Uncharted territory: navigating the pediatric urology job market.

INTRODUCTION: There is not a structured algorithm, timeline, or resource on how, when, and which programs are looking for a new staff pediatric urologist. We hypothesized that current and future pediatric urology fellows could benefit from the experiences of recently graduated fellows on navigating the urology job market.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to survey current and recent pediatric urology fellowship graduates about the process of finding their first job.

STUDY DESIGN: A Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap) online survey was designed and distributed through email to current fellows and 2012-2017 graduates. Results were evaluated using STATA.

RESULTS: 153 participants were emailed, and 94 (61%) completed the survey. The plurality of applicants (44%) began the job search at the Spring American Urological Association meeting, 14 months before finishing (Figure). Of those who started 14 months before finishing, 33% wished they started earlier and 61% would have started at the same point. The median number of programs contacted for a position was 3-4 and the median number of programs visited and offers received was two. After the offer, 40% reported having >8 weeks to decide. Less than half (38.5%) hired an attorney for contract negotiation. Of those who hired an attorney, 68% felt it provided benefit. Regarding contract negotiation, 22% did not negotiate and 35% negotiated for salary. Unsurprisingly, 28% of those who took academic jobs thought negotiating for protected research/educational time was most important compared with only 4% of those who took non-academic jobs (P = 0.02). When asked how they learned about the job they accepted: 28% were contacted by the program, 25% cold called the program, 30% accepted where they did residency or fellowship, and 18% learned through society websites. The plurality (50%) thought the number of desirable positions during the process were as they expected. 41% however, thought the number of desirable positions were expectedly or surprisingly low. Regarding quality of life and satisfaction with job/career choice, 98% stated that they would still choose to subspecialize in pediatric urology.

CONCLUSIONS: The results from this survey should provide guidance to fellows on how to approach the job search with respect to timing, expectations, contract negotiation, and initial job satisfaction.