Figure 2. Relocation Patterns Among First-Time Internal Medicine American Board of Internal Medicine Certification Examinees (2002).

Data are stratified according to quintile of care intensity of the destination hospital referral region (HRR) of the examinee’s practice location at the time of the Maintenance of Certification (MOC) examination. The HRRs, ordered according to the end-of-life visit index, were divided into quintiles of approximately equal number of physicians; practice and residency location HRR quintiles were categorized according to the same definition. Stayers indicate physicians who, at the time of the MOC examination, practiced in the same HRR in which they completed residency training.