Table 1.

Fourth-year Medical Students and Residents: Characteristics of Study Population^*

	Year 4 (N = 525)		Residents (N = 1,118)		Panel (N = 236)
	1994 (N = 306)	1997 (N = 219)	1994 (N = 635)	1997 (N = 483)	Year 4 Students 1994	Residents 1997
Mean age, y	27.0	24.3	28.7	30.9	26.8	30.2
Married	36.7	44.5	57.6	64.9	37.4	66.1
Female	36.4	39.5	35.8	38.9	34.4
White	72.2	73.0	73.8	71.6	71.9
Home town size
Large city (>500,000)	18.8	12.6	15.1	17.9	20.3
Suburb of large city	32.3	22.7	25.8	26.2	31.5
Moderate city (50,001–500,000)	15.9	16.8	18.2	18.9	13.2
Small city (10,001–50,000)	17.7	23.0	17.4	18.2	18.1
Town (2,501–10,000)	8.0	15.6	14.4	12.6	8.9
Rural (<2,500)	7.3	9.3	8.8	5.6	8.0
Specialty choice
Primary care	25.9	24.4	27.1	30.8	22.6	30.2
IMPS or undecided between primary care and IMPS	16.4	29.8	16.2	12.2	17.6	9.4
Specialty	57.7	45.9	56.7	57.0	59.8	60.4
Response rates	92.5	86.6	77.2	78.6		78.5†

^*All data are reported as weighted percentages unless otherwise indicated.

^†Reponse rate for panel represents the percent of 1994 Year 4 students who were followed up as residents in 1997.

IMPS, internal medicine/pediatrics subspecialty.