Free open access data sources for dermatology researchers

Free open access data sources are a valuable tool for dermatology researchers and may uncover crucial information about dermatological diseases and delivery of dermatological care. This short review discusses six open access data sources including: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH), National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS)/National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS), Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO). We explain the role of each data source in dermatology and provide examples of past studies, which have used these data repositories

Free open access data sources for dermatology researchers

Free open access data sources are a valuable tool for dermatology researchers and may uncover crucial information about dermatological diseases and delivery of dermatological care. This short review discusses six open access data sources including: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH), National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS)/National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS), Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO). We explain the role of each data source in dermatology and provide examples of past studies, which have used these data repositories

Perceived Barriers to Career Advancement: Medical Students and Resident Physicians.

BackgroundThe path to becoming a physician is challenging, with various barriers influencing medical student and resident physician residency and fellowship training career decisions. Studies comparing perceived obstacles at disparate training levels are limited and given these obstacles are dynamic, studies are frequently needed to evaluate perceived barriers to pursuing residency specialty or fellowship of interest for physician trainees.ObjectiveTo evaluate and compare perceived barriers to obtaining residency specialty or fellowship of choice for medical students and resident physicians, respectively.MethodsA Likert scale survey assessing perceived barriers was administered via the listservs of medical schools and organizations in 2021. Differences in the Likert scale score mean between medical students and resident physicians were measured with student t-tests (2-sided).ResultsA total of 404 medical trainees participated (301 medical students and 103 resident physicians). Medical students indicated lack of opportunity to obtain alpha omega alpha membership as the most crucial perceived barrier (mean Likert scale score ± standard deviation, 4.01±1.97), followed by USMLE Step 1 score (3.92±1.89) and lack of home program in specialty/fellowship of interest (3.62±1.85). Similarly, resident physicians implicated the lack of a home program in a specialty/fellowship of interest as the most prominent barrier (3.48±1.78), followed by lack of connections/networking (3.17±1.50) and probability of matching (3.14±1.44).ConclusionsThe lack of a home program was an important barrier to pursuing a specialty or fellowship of choice for both medical students and resident physicians, respectively, and may have been heightened during the COVID-19 pandemic. J Drugs Dermatol. 2023;22(11):e17-e20    doi:10.36849/JDD.7005e