a snapshot of pulmonary medicine at the turn of the century
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1/9/03 Page 1 of 1
A Snapshot of Pulmonary Medicine at the Turn of the Century: the American
Thoracic Society Membership
Lynn M. Schnapp MD1, Melissa Matosian2, Idelle Weisman MD3, Carolyn H. Welsh MD4
1Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Harborview Medical Center, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
2Former Director, Membership Services & Marketing, American Thoracic Society, NY, NY
3Dept. of Clinical Investigation and Pulmonary Critical Care Service, William Beaumont Army Medical Center, El Paso TX
4Pulmonary Division, Denver VA Medical Center, Denver, CO, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver, CO.
Address correspondence to:
Lynn M. Schnapp MD Box 359640 325 Ninth Ave Harborview Medical Center University of Washington Seattle, WA 98104 [email protected]
ATS membership survey Subject category: 155: professional education and training Word count: 2,988 This article has an online data supplement, which is accessible from this issue’s table of content online at www.atsjournals.org
Copyright (C) 2003 by the American Thoracic Society.
AJRCCM Articles in Press. Published on January 9, 2003 as doi:10.1164/rccm.200203-186OC
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ABSTRACT To describe the characteristics of the American Thoracic Society, the Membership Committee
developed a survey to assess demographics, training, professional activities and needs of a diverse
membership with a growing international segment. It also provided an opportunity to determine
how the Society reflects the current state of pulmonary medicine in the United States. A self-
administered survey was mailed to active members. Of responding members, 80% reside in the US
or Canada; the remainder come from 90 different countries. The majority of North American
respondents (1%) were white, non-Hispanic. Seventeen percent of respondents were female.
Female respondents were younger with mean age of 42 years, compared to 47 years for males.
Sixty-five percent of respondents identified clinical practice, 20% research, and 5% teaching as
their major activity. More women (33%) than men (22%) identified themselves as researchers.
The majority of respondents (69%) have a medical school faculty affiliation. The American
Thoracic Society represents a global organization with diverse clinical expertise and scientific
interests. The majority of respondents are clinicians; however, the membership has a strong
academic bent with most reporting academic affiliation, and describing teaching as a secondary
activity.
Keywords (MESH): questionnaires, career choice, pulmonary disease (specialty), medical faculty
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INTRODUCTION
A century ago, practice in pulmonary medicine was primarily that of diagnosing and monitoring
infection. Tuberculosis was rampant, and infectious diseases were common killers. The American
Thoracic Society, originally named the American Sanatorium Society, was formed at the turn of the
nineteenth century, in 1905, as a division of the American Lung Association and focused on the
medical aspects of tuberculosis (1). In 1960, the name of the society was changed to its current one
to better reflect clinical practice (2). In recent years, the Society has expanded its scope of
activities to meet the needs of its growing international membership and to encompass areas
including critical care, sleep, nursing, and behavioral science. In 2000, the American Thoracic
Society became an independently incorporated society. At that time, the American Thoracic
Society conducted a survey of its membership to understand better the changing demographics and
activities of the membership. The survey was designed to obtain information about the
demographics, work practices, and areas of specialization of members, as well as to elicit responses
regarding the satisfaction with the Society activities. This represents the first comprehensive survey
of pulmonary physician practices, and includes both United States and international members.
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METHODS
Survey Development: The ATS Membership Committee was charged with developing a survey to
address issues related to demographics, training and professional activities, type of practice, and
faculty affiliation of its membership. In November 1998, Phase I of the ATS Membership Survey
was initiated. A 6-page, self-administered survey was sent to 13,598 members (3,113 international,
and 10,485 United States and Canada). A reminder postcard was sent three weeks after the initial
mailing, and a second mailing was sent to all non-responders one month later . Survey replies were
accepted through April 1999. At the completion of Phase I, a preliminary data analysis was
conducted. From this initial analysis, thirteen items were deleted from the questionnaire in an effort
to increase the response rate and the revised questionnaire was mailed out to non-responders (Phase
II). Results from the Phase II data collection was similar to the Phase I data and thus the data were
pooled. The questionnaire was divided into the following issue areas: Training and Professional
Activities, (8 questions), Member Benefits (5 questions), Postgraduate and Continuing Medical
Education (2 questions), Annual International Conference (4 questions), Journals (2 questions),
Technology (5 questions), Overall Satisfaction (3 questions), Demographic information (4
questions), and a section with questions specific only to the international members (7 questions).
For complete set of survey questions see Figure E1 in the online data supplement.
Statistical Analysis: The responses were analyzed using SPSS for Windows, version 10 (SPSS, Inc.
Chicago IL). Data were scanned and entered in an Access database by Survey and Ballot Systems,
Inc. (Eden Prairie, Minnesota) and then converted to SPSS data sets. Demographics, work setting,
practice information and board certification data were analyzed with a descriptive program. The
chi-square test was used to test gender-specific comparisons and compare North American (USA
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and Canada) to International responses with a two-tailed test for significance (3). A Fisher exact
test was used when appropriate.
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RESULTS
From combined Phase 1 and Phase 2 mailings sent to the 13,598 active members in the organization
at the time of the survey, 126 were returned undelivered, and 6,973 responses were received for the
final analyses . An initial 5,660 surveys were returned (42.0% response rate) with Phase 2 yielding
an additional 1,313 responses out of 7,938 surveys sent (16.5%) for a total response rate of 51.8%
(6,973/13,472) .A complete set of responses is available on the online data supplement
Demographics:
Nineteen percent (n=1320) of survey respondents were from the international community, and 81%
were from North America. The international members of the Society come from more than 90
different countries in all continents except Antarctica. Ethnicity was analyzed for the North
American members only. Self-classification of ethnicity of North American respondents showed
that the majority of members (79%) were white, non-Hispanic (Table 1). Eighty-three percent
(5,566) of respondents were male and 17% (1,116) female. Female members were younger than
male members with a mean age of 42 for women and 47 for men. The majority of the membership
(51.6%) was between the ages of 40-54 years old (Figure 1).
The survey asked members to categorize their principal professional activity, defined as more than
50% of time in that activity. Sixty five percent of respondents listed clinical practice as their major
activity (Figure 2). Twenty percent identify themselves as primarily researchers, either in basic
science or clinical research. When analyzed in terms of gender, women were more likely to identify
themselves as researchers than men (p<0.001) (Table 2). The principal activities of International
members were not statistically different from US/Canadian members (see Table E25 in the online
data supplement.). Teaching was considered a primary or secondary activity for 69% of
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respondents. Thus, although the majority regard themselves as clinicians, society members retain
an educational and academic orientation to their careers.
We next assessed whether age was associated with career choice differently for men and women.
The percent of men identifying themselves as clinician is the same for those younger than 45 years
(78.1%) compared to men at least 45 years old (78.5%) (p =0.743). In contrast, for woman younger
than 45 years, 69.6% identify themselves as clinicians, whereas for woman older than 45 years old,
a smaller proportion, 62.5%, identify themselves as clinicians (p=0.039) (Table 2). Thus, younger
women are more likely to identify themselves as clinicians than their older counterparts.
Training and certification:
As expected, the majority of members hold an MD degree or its equivalent. Only 11.7% of
responding members were not physicians. Nurses represent 1.4% of respondents (n=97). Fifteen
percent of respondents have the PhD degree. Of these, 8.0% have MD/PhD degrees, 6.3% have
non-nurse/non-MD doctorates, and 0.4% are nurse PhDs.
To understand the prior training of our physician members, we asked about primary and secondary
board certification. The primary specialties listed for the majority of physician members are
internal medicine (74%) and pediatrics (14%). Other primary specialties include surgery (1.6%),
anesthesiology (1.5%), pathology (1.1%), preventive medicine (1.0%), family practice (0.5%),
physical medicine and rehabilitation (0.3%), and radiology (0.3%). The secondary (subspecialty)
certifications for members are listed in Table 3. Members have subspecialty certification in
numerous areas with many members having subspecialty certification in more than one field. As
expected, physician members are most likely to identify their area of practice as pulmonary
medicine, including critical care (78%). Critical care medicine and sleep medicine are relatively
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new areas of subspecialization. To assess the impact of these areas on physicians’ clinical
activities, we asked what percentage of time physicians spent in those areas. The majority of
physician members (77%) spend some time in critical care medicine although only 14% spend more
than half of their time in critical care (Table 4). The time currently spent in sleep medicine is more
limited, with 90% of clinicians spending less than 25% of their time in sleep medicine and only
2.3% spending more than half of their time in sleep medicine (Table 4).
Work Setting:
Work setting was assessed for members, and analyzed according to geographical and gender
differences (Table 5). Significant differences in practice setting were noted for both criteria.
International members were more likely to practice in a university setting than North American
members 39.6% vs. 31.5%, p<0.0001). Female members were also more likely to practice in a
university setting than male members (41.5% vs. 31.6%, p<0.0001).
Consistent with the majority of respondents reporting teaching as a primary or secondary activity,
69% of respondents report faculty affiliation with a medical school. This number includes full and
part-time salaried faculty as well as volunteer faculty. Overall faculty affiliation rates are higher
for international members than for North American respondents and there are differences with
respect to faculty rank. Specifically, for North American respondents, there are proportionately
fewer full professors compared to international respondents (25% vs. 30%, p < 0.0001). For North
American and International respondents, fewer women than men have reached the full professors
level (12% vs 28.6%, p< 0.0001) (see Table E24 in the online data supplement). For both groups,
there is a gender discrepancy at the assistant professor level with 41.1% of women and only 29.9%
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of men holding this rank (p < 0.0001). Similarly, proportionately more women are at an academic
level junior to assistant professor (20.5% vs 14.6%, p < 0.0001).
Technology
We determined member access to different technologies. The overwhelming majority of
respondents use a computer, either at home or at work (Table 6). International members were more
likely than North American members to use a computer only at work, (29.8% vs. 20.1%) (Table 6).
Internet access and email capability are common, with > 90% of total respondents reporting access
to both, although international members were less likely to have either (Table 7). Overall, the
preferred method of receiving communication from the American Thoracic society was mail (67%).
However, when responses were analyzed by location, there were significant differences with respect
to how respondents preferred to receive communication. For US members, 65% preferred mail and
30.9% preferred email; for international members, 46.4% preferred mail while 44.8% preferred
email.
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Discussion: The response generated from this survey, the first survey of practitioners of pulmonary and critical
care medicine, provided the American Thoracic Society with valuable insight into the needs of
Society members. Not only were opinions on Society services, publications, and meetings
compiled but the survey has also provided detailed demographics, training, and practice information
as presented here. A strength of this survey compared to similar surveys of other physician groups
is the inclusion of a sampling of both North American and international members. Other surveys of
professional organizations have examined US members, Canadian members, or European members,
but such surveys have not compared data across nations (4-10); this survey is unique in this regard.
Our findings illustrate that ethnicities other than Caucasian are under-represented in the North
American membership. In particular, African-American membership is sparse, as African-
Americans comprise approximately 11% of the US population, but only 1.5% of the ATS
respondents. This low percentage of minorities is not unique to pulmonary medicine. Overall,
African-Americans represent 2.6% of all physicians in the US. Only 3.6% of physicians in internal
medicine, 2.2% in pulmonary diseases, and 1.5% in neurology are African-American (11). The lack
of minority physicians has important ramifications since minority physicians are more likely to
provide medical care for minority patients and underserved populations (12-15). Current data
indicate that minority students are selecting careers other than medicine (16,17). If so, the paucity
of minority members in the ATS will persist for a long time. To improve this, recruitment strategies
such as targeting prospective students with an interest in medicine at a high school, college, and
medical school level, focusing on mentorship support during pulmonary training, and promotion of
monetary support/scholarship programs are needed.
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The mean age of the membership is young, which may reflect this as an organization with a
younger age than the majority of physicians in practice. In particular there is a preponderance of
females in the younger age groups, consistent with the younger age of women physicians in the
United States. According to the American Medical Association (AMA), females currently comprise
22.8% of all US physicians (177,030 of 777,859) (12). Per the AMA database, 45% of US
physicians are older than 45 years (mean age 47.5 years), but 65% of female physicians are younger
than 45 years and only 39% of male physicians are younger than 45 years (11)
Women comprise a small proportion of pulmonary physicians. As of 1999, 11% of board-certified
pulmonary physicians in the US were women (direct communication, American Board of Internal
Medicine). American Thoracic Society respondents, however, show a higher percentage of women
(17%). There are several possible explanations for this: first, our membership may reflect younger
physicians, where the percentage of women is higher. Secondly, women may have been more
likely than men to respond to the survey. However, the percentage of women respondents is
identical to the percentage of women in the ATS membership database. Thirdly, non-physicians
within the society may skew these proportions. However, non-physicians account for a small
proportion of respondents (11%). Although women comprise 17% of American Thoracic Society
membership, they appear to be entering pulmonary specialization from internal medicine at a lower
rate than women completing internal medicine residency programs. In 1998-1999, 23% of the first-
year fellows in pulmonary/critical care were women while in 1997-1998, 35% of internal medicine
graduates were women (18). Investigation into subspecialty choice of women residents may be
informative.
In terms of academic position, results of the survey show that a lower percentage of women are full
professors than men, despite the fact that older women were more likely than comparably aged men
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to identify themselves as researchers, particularly for the North American members. The lower
success rates of women in scaling the academic ladder are similar to other reports of women
physicians and women scientists (6, 19-23). A recent cohort study of medical school graduates
showed that women pursue an academic career more often than men, however the number of
women who advanced to associate and full professors was significantly lower than expected (19).
In 1987, the first added qualification was offered in critical care medicine. In 1994, as an indication
of the increasing involvement of pulmonary physicians in critical care medicine, the official journal
of the American Thoracic Society changed its name from the American Review of Respiratory
Diseases (1959-1993) to the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine .
Although the majority of our members spend some time in the critical care field, few spend the
majority of their time doing critical care. This may represent self-selection of our membership:
pulmonary physicians who spend the majority of time in critical care medicine may choose
membership in other professional organizations such as the Society of Critical Care Medicine. The
same may hold true with physicians involved in sleep medicine; physicians with a strong interest
and concentration in sleep may select other professional organizations. Sleep medicine is also a
relatively new field of study with a board certification first offered in 1978. Of interest, in 1990,
only 54 of 320 (17%) professional recruitment advertisements in the then American Review of
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Respiratory Disease requested sleep expertise; in 2000, 187 of 397 (47%) advertisements in the
American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine requested sleep expertise. It will be
of interest to track practice activities over time to determine whether the areas of sleep and critical
care medicine become the domains of a select group of pulmonary physicians or whether these
areas will be integrated into a general pulmonary medicine practice.
The rapid growth of computer-based communication and electronic transfer of information is
evident in access to these technologies by the respondents. The use of technology by respondents
parallels increasing use throughout the US. As of 2001, 56.4% of all US households owned a
computer and 50.4% had Internet access. For households with incomes >$75,000, 89% owned
computers, and 85.4% had Internet access (24). Despite the prevalence of Internet and email access,
the majority of respondents preferred mail as the method of communication. As Internet use
continues to grow at a record pace (25, it will be important to determine if electronic
communication is embraced by more members over time.
There are a number of potential biases to these data. First, surveys employ self-reporting which
may be less accurate than observational studies. The response rate for the survey at 52% was
comparable to other large sample surveys looking at a minimum of 1,000 physicians [26,27,28].
However, non-responders may have different characteristics from responders. We attempted to
validate our results by comparing responses from Phase I to responses obtained from Phase II.
Identical results were obtained from both phases, which suggests that non-responders may be
similar to responders. Furthermore, other studies of physicians have shown that survey responders
and non-responders share similar demographic profiles perhaps because physicians are a more
homogenous group than the general populations (26,27,28). We also compared the survey
demographic data to the ATS membership database and found similar breakdown of gender, age,
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ethnicity, work settings, principal activities and board certification, suggesting that the survey
responders are representative of the current ATS membership. For North American members,
American Thoracic Society membership might be considered representative of board-certified
pulmonary physicians. Within the United States, this is a reasonable assumption as the American
Thoracic Society membership represents 85% of the 9102 board certified adult pulmonary
physicians (direct communication with American Board of Internal Medicine, 1999 data).
There have been many changes in medicine during the last century, including development of the
specialty of pulmonary medicine and the formation of the American Thoracic Society. The number
of pulmonary physicians has dramatically increased in the past century, and the focus of clinical
activities has continued to expand and evolve. The survey has provided a snapshot of the current
activities and practices and demographics of pulmonary physicians. Some of the findings, such as
the lack of ethnic diversity, small numbers of women choosing pulmonary or critical care medicine
compared to internal medicine and slow academic progression of women illustrate findings that are
similar to those reported in other professional societies (9,10,29,21). Other findings such as the
strong educational ties of the membership were gratifying, suggesting that clinical and academic
endeavors are important to ATS membership. With the large number of international members and
members in numerous subspecialties, we are an increasingly diverse group. Knowledge of the
membership facilitates strategic planning for the Society. The organization can be strengthened by
focusing on the clinical interests of its membership, and by improving representation of minorities,
women, and international members. In addition to identifying the current demographics and
activities of our members and by extension, pulmonary physicians, the survey results provide a
benchmark to measure changes in the profession as we continue into the twenty-first century.
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Acknowledgements: We thank Drs. Beth Kolko and J. Randall Curtis for advice and review of the
manuscript, and Chris Keron for statistical expertise.
Current address for Melissa Matosian:
Manager Ovation Research Group 600 Central Avenue, Highland Park, IL 60035 [email protected]
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Figure Legends
Figure 1: Percent of members in each age group by gender. A total of 6639 respondents, 5534 male
and 1105 female are included. Age is divided into 5-year increments except for the 20-29, and 65
and older groups. Mean age of men is 47 years and of women is 42 years. Solid bars represent male
and open bars female members.
Figure 2: For the survey respondents, self-described principal activity is pictured. Clinical and
research together comprise the principal activity for 84.8% of members.
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Table 1: Primary ethnic identification for North American (US and Canada) respondents
Ethnicity Percent of North American
Members
White, non-Hispanic 79.4%
Asian, Asian American 7.8%
Indian or Pakistani 4.5%
Hispanic 3.9%
Arabic 1.5%
African American, Black 1.5%
Other 0.9%
Pacific Islander, Native
American or Alaskan Native
0.2%
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Table 2: Principal Activities stratified by Age and Gender
Male Female
Total < 45 years
n=2123
> 45 years
n=2298
Total < 45 years
n=566
> 45 years
n=269
Clinician 78.3% 78.1% 78.5% 67.5% 69.6% 62.5%
Researcher 21.7% 21.9% 21.5% 32.5% 30.4% 37.5%
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TABLE 3: Subspecialty certification for US and Canadian physicians
Certification Percent of physician members Number of members
Pulmonary Disease 71% 3694
Critical Care 37% 2098
Allergy and Immunology 8% 443
Pediatric pulmonary 8% 419
Sleep medicine 6% 335
Neonatology 2% 134
Infectious disease 2% 120
Thoracic surgery 2% 89
Occupational medicine 1% 79
Pediatric critical care 1% 69
Cardiovascular disease 1% 49
Geriatrics 1% 45
Others (combined) 2% 122
Note: Totals exceed 100% as persons may have more than one field of certification
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Table 4: Physician Time in Sleep and Critical Care Medicine
% tim in area Sleep Medicine
(n=5,672)
Critical Care Medicine
(n=5,991)
0 42.6% 22.6%
<25 44.6% 31.4%
25-50 7.7% 32.1%
51-75 1.5% 9.1%
>75 .8% 4.8%
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Table 5: Primary Work Setting Total US/Canada International Male Female Full time staff in HMO 1.7% 1.8% 1.2% 1.7% 1.5% Practice, clinical or hospital 47.5% 49.3% 39.9% 49.4% 37.6% University 33.0% 31.5% 39.6% 31.6% 41.5% Government Federal, non-VA 2.3% 1.3% 6.8% 2.2% 2.2% Veterans affairs 3.3% 4.0% 0.2% 3.3% 3.3% Military 1.3% 1.4% 0.7% 1.3% 1.6% State/local 2.7% 1.8% 6.4% 2.6% 3.3% Industry 2.9% 3.0% 2.6% 2.7% 3.5% Other 5.3% 5.9% 2.6% 5.2% 5.3%
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Table 6. Do you use a computer?
Total US International
Yes, at work 21.9% 20.1% 29.8%
Yes at home 13.4% 15% 6.7%
Both at work and home 61% 61% 61.%
No, I don’t have a computer 3.6% 3.9% 2.3%
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Table 7. Technology Access
Do you have: Total US International
CD-ROM 89.5% 90.8% 84.2%
Soundcard 64.7% 68% 51.5%
Modem 79.2% 83% 63%
E-mail 92.5% 93.9% 86.6%
Internet Access 91.7% 93.4% 84.6%
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0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
years
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A Snapshot of Pulmonary Medicine at the Turn of the Century: the American
Thoracic Society Membership
Lynn M. Schnapp MD, Melissa Matosian, Idelle Weisman MD, Carolyn H. Welsh MD
ONLINE DATA SUPPLEMENT
SECTION I. MEMBER BENEFITS
Table E1A. Rating of Current ATS Services (Mean Rank, 5= Extremely Valuable; 1= not at all
valuable)
US/Canada International Male Female Clinician Researcher
AJRCCM 4.3 4.55 4.35 4.35 4.35 4.38
AJRCMB 2.29 3.07 2.38 2.62 2.05 3.64
ATS Journals On-Line 3.24 3.65 3.26 3.59 3.24 3.65
ATS Website 2.92 3.28 2.93 3.27 2.97 3.07
ATS News 2.74 2.64 2.69 2.88 2.71 2.66
On-Line Roster 2.41 2.71 2.43 2.71 2.37 2.83
Printed Roster 2.98 3.04 2.97 3.14 2.87 3.34
International Conference 3.89 4.41 3.93 4.27 3.84 4.47
Advoc/Pub. Policy office 3.21 2.04 3 3.34 3.01 3.09
CME from ALA or ATS 3.56 3.08 3.44 3.72 3.65 3
ATS Policy Statements 3.81 3.29 3.7 3.92 3.83 3.39
TABLE E1B. RANK ORDER OF CURRENT ATS SERVICES
Mean
AJRCCM 4.36
International Conference 3.99
ATS Policy Statements 3.73
CME from ALA or ATS 3.50
ATS Journals On-Line 3.34
Advoc/Pub Policy office 3.03
ATS Website 2.99
Printed Roster 2.98
ATS News 2.70
On-Line Roster 2.48
AJRCMB 2.43
Table E2. Rating of potential benefits (Mean rank, 5= extremely valuable; 1= not at all valuable)
US/Canada International Male Female Clinical Researcher
Research Funding 3.57 3.74 3.51 4.02 3.57 3.74
Enhanced Networking 3.33 3.53 3.28 3.74 3.33 3.53
Mentoring Programs 3.1 3.1 3 3.58 3.1 3.1
Clinical Practice Guidelines 3.91 4.2 3.95 4.07 3.91 4.2
Speakers Bureau 3.05 2.71 2.96 3.24 3.05 2.71
Increased CME Opportunities 3.54 2.8 3.41 3.62 3.54 2.8
Other 3.47 2.95 3.19 4.19 3.47 2.95
Table E3. ATS Satisfaction (Mean rank, 5=exteremely satisfied, 1=not at all satisfied)
US/Canada International Male Female Clinical Researcher
Ease of access to ATS
leadership
3.16 3.15 3.14 3.29 3.04 3.41
Responsiveness of ATS
leadership to member
concerns
3.15 3.09 3.12 3.31 3.03 3.38
Advocacy efforts of ATS 3.33 3.19 3.28 3.53 3.24 3.42
Dissemination of ATS
Board activities
3.28 3.25 3.24 3.45 3.22 3.35
TABLE E4. PARTICIPATION IN LEADERSHIP POSITION WITHIN ATS
US/Canada International Male Female
Yes 9.3% 5.4% 8.3% 11%
No 90.7% 94.6% 91.7% 89%
SECTION II. ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
TABLE E5. NUMBER OF ATS INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES ATTENDED IN THE
PAST 5 YEARS
US/Canada International Male Female Clinician Researcher
None 12 7 12 7 13 2
1-2 34 33 34 32 40 20
3-4 31 39 32 35 33 34
5 23 21 22 25 14 44
TABLE E6. VALUE OF ATS INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
US/Canada International Males Females Clinician Researcher
Not at all valuable 7% 1% 7% 3% 8% 1%
Somewhat valuable 10% 3% 9% 7% 10% 4%
Moderately valuable 14% 9% 14% 10% 14% 8%
Very valuable 23% 28% 24% 21% 25% 21%
Extremely valuable 46% 59% 46% 59% 43% 66%
TABLE E7 ATS INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE (Mean rank, 5= Extremely important, 1=
Not at all important)
Reasons to attend US/Canada International Male Female Clinician Researcher
Meeting location 3.25 2.96 3.21 3.11 3.40 2.71
Travel costs 3.17 3.26 3.15 3.29 3.29 2.87
Educational opportunities 3.96 3.66 3.86 4.09 4.08 3.50
Content of scientific
programs
4.05 4.22 4.07 4.10 3.95 4.39
Content of clinical
program
3.94 3.87 3.93 3.98 4.23 3.22
Networking opportunities 3.07 3.10 3.02 3.32 2.88 3.51
Opportunity to present an
abstract or poster
3.13 3.84 3.18 3.57 2.91 4.02
Reasons NOT to attend
Location 2.97 2.73 2.94 2.85 3.09 2.38
Travel costs 3.07 3.26 3.06 3.28 3.17 2.77
Content of scientific 2.78 3.26 2.81 2.95 2.77 3.10
programs
Content of clinical
program
2.83 2.99 2.83 2.96 3.02 2.33
Work schedule conflicts 3.85 3.42 3.78 3.85 3.96 3.31
SECTION III. JOURNALS
TABLE E8A. VALUE OF AJRCCM
Overall US/Canada International
Not at all valuable 1% 1% 0.1%
Somewhat valuable 4% 5% 1%
Moderately valuable 11% 12% 5%
Very valuable 29% 29% 29%
Extremely valuable 55% 53% 64%
TABLE E8B. VALUE OF AJRCCM SECTIONS (Mean rank, 5= Extremely valuable, 1= Not at
all valuable)
US/Canada International Male Female Clinician Researcher
Original Articles 4.09 4.41 4.15 4.19 4.09 4.32
Brief
Communications
3.60 3.75 3.61 3.69 3.57 3.76
Case Reports 3.28 3.30 3.26 3.44 3.40 2.84
Editorials 3.96 4.10 4.00 3.91 4.06 3.77
State of the Art 4.62 4.68 4.63 4.67 4.69 4.48
Clinical
Commentaries
3.94 3.76 3.92 3.87 4.07 3.42
Pulmonary
Perspectives
3.95 3.85 3.93 3.96 4.05 3.59
ATS Statements
and Position
Papers
4.30 4.04 4.23 4.36 4.36 3.87
Workshop
Summaries
3.60 3.61 3.56 3.79 3.57 3.65
Correspondence 2.73 2.86 2.73 2.84 2.77 2.68
Announcements 2.83 2.67 2.77 2.97 2.77 2.87
Professional
Recruitment
2.53 2.03 2.40 2.71 2.40 2.58
TABLE E8C. RANK ORDER OF AJRCCM SECTIONS
Mean
State of the Art 4.63
ATS Statements and Position Papers 4.25
Original Articles 4.15
Editorials 3.99
Pulmonary Perspectives 3.93
Clinical Commentaries 3.91
Brief Communications 3.62
Workshop Summaries 3.60
Case Reports 3.29
Announcements 2.80
Correspondence 2.75
Professional Recruitment 2.44
TABLE E9A. VALUE OF AJRCMB
Overall US/Canada International
Not at all valuable 35% 38% 19%
Somewhat valuable 28% 29% 28%
Moderately valuable 14% 12% 21%
Very valuable 10% 10% 14%
Extremely valuable 13% 11% 17%
TABLE E9B. VALUE OF AJRCMB SECTIONS (Mean rank, 5= Extremely valuable, 1= Not at
all valuable)
US/Canada International Male Female Clinician Researcher
Editorials 2.93 3.57 3.04 3.25 2.84 3.59
Rapid Communications 2.90 3.49 2.98 3.28 2.68 3.77
Original Articles 3.12 3.77 3.21 3.56 2.88 4.11
Workshops 2.70 3.19 2.76 3.10 2.57 3.35
Perspectives 2.82 3.32 2.87 3.19 2.66 3.52
Minireviews 3.21 3.74 3.27 3.62 2.99 4.06
TABLE E9C RANK ORDER OF AJRCMB SECTIONS
Mean
Minireviews 3.33
Original Articles 3.27
Editorials 3.07
Rapid Communications 3.03
Perspectives 2.93
Workshops 2.81
TABLE E10A AJRCCM should include more: (Mean rank; 5=strongly agree, 1=strongly
disagree)
US/Can International Male Female Clinician Researcher
Original clinical
studies
3.93 4.03 3.94 4.00 4.03 3.66
Original basic science
studies
2.91 3.24 2.96 3.04 2.77 3.62
Reviews of clinical
issues
4.36 4.26 4.34 4.34 4.47 3.93
Reviews of basic
science
3.44 3.62 3.45 3.56 3.34 3.88
TABLE E10B. Rank order for AJRCCM
Mean
Reviews of clinical issues 4.34
Original clinical studies 3.95
Reviews of basic science 3.47
Original basic science studies 2.97
TABLE E11A. AJRCMB should include more: (Mean rank, 5= strongly agree, 1=strongly
disagree)
US/Can Internationa
l
Male Female Clinician Researcher
Original basic science
studies
3.53 3.82 3.59 3.66 3.39 4.04
Reviews of basic
science
3.98 4.12 4.01 4.01 3.89 4.31
Bench to bedside
review
3.96 3.96 3.95 4.03 4.03 3.89
State of the art 4.15 4.28 4.17 4.23 4.18 4.24
TABLE E11B Rank order for AJRCMB
Mean
State of the art 4.18
Reviews of basic science 4.01
Bench to bedside reviews 3.96
Original basic science studies 3.60
SECTION IV TECHNOLOGY
TABLE E12. USEFULNESS OF ATS WEBSITE (Mean rank; 5=extremely useful, 1=not at all
useful)
US/Canada International Male Female Clinician Researcher
Ease of navigation 3.08 3.13 3.07 3.20 3.11 3.06
Information about the
organization
2.83 2.78 2.79 2.96 2.82 2.84
ATS Journals online 3.47 3.70 3.50 3.63 3.49 3.69
International conference
information
3.25 3.50 3.26 3.55 3.24 3.60
Registration for
international conference
3.20 3.39 3.19 3.54 3.15 3.62
Accessing roster
information
2.77 2.73 2.74 2.87 2.71 2.97
Calendar of events 2.98 3.02 2.95 3.19 2.99 3.06
Updates of ATS news 2.76 2.84 2.75 2.91 2.83 2.68
Downloading statements
and position papers
3.31 3.43 3.31 3.46 3.42 3.14
Viewing assembly
websites
2.75 2.78 2.74 2.87 2.77 2.74
Critical care journal club 2.77 2.73 2.76 2.78 2.89 2.47
Links to other websites 2.89 2.91 2.87 3.02 2.93 2.78
SECTION V. OVERALL SATISFACTION
TABLE E13. SATISFACTION WITH ATS MEMBERSHIP (mean rank; 5=extremely
satisfied, 1=not at all satisfied)
Mean Rank
US/Canada 3.32
International 3.42
Male 3.33
Female 3.36
Clinician 3.27
Researcher 3.5
TABLE E14A. DO YOU PLAN TO RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP NEXT YEAR?
Yes 92%
No 2.2%
Maybe 5.8%
TABLE E14B If No, why? (More than one answer may be checked)
Membership dues too high 58%
Benefits of membership no
longer suit me
21%
No longer in pulmonary
medicine
18%
Another organization better
represented their interests
18%
SECTION VI. ADVOCACY AND LOCAL SOCIETY INVOLVEMENT (US CITIZENS
ONLY)
TABLE E15. PRIORITY OF ALA/ATS WASHINGTON OFFICE
Rank Order of Advocacy issues (Mean rank, Lowest priority=1; highest priority = 5)
Tobacco Control Policy 3.85
Health Care Policy 3.85
Medical Reimbursement Policy 3.55
Research Funding 3.45
Environmental Policy 3.41
TABLE E16. PARTICIPATION IN ADVOCACY EFFORTS
Yes 27.67
No 72.33
TABLE E17. Washington office information obtained from (more than one answer may be
checked):
ATS News 58.2%
ATS Washington Letter 14.5%
ATS Website 5.4%
Unaware of communications 23.5%
TABLE E18. MEMBERSHIP IN LOCAL THORACIC SOCIETY
Overall Clinician Researcher
Yes 52.7% 55.8% 39.3%
No 47.3% 44.2% 60.7%
TABLE 19. LEADERSHIP POSITION IN LOCAL THORACIC SOCIETY
Yes 23.5%
No 76.5%
TABLE E20. VOLUNTEER FOR LOCAL LUNG ASSOCIATION
Yes 16.6%
No 83.5%
SECTION VII. INTERNATIONAL MEMBERS SECTION
TABLE E21 General Information
Yes No
Is the International Conference well designed to meet your needs 87.4% 12.6%
Do you receive ATS information in a timely manner? 77.2 % 22.8 %
Are you aware that ATS co-sponsors educational opportunities
with other societies?
84.7% 15.3%
TABLE E22. SATISFACTION WITH INTERNATIONAL REPRESENTATION WITHIN
THE SOCIETY (Mean rank, 5=extremely satisfied, 1=not at all satisfied)
Not at all Satisfied 17.7
Somewhat Satisfied 28.2
Satisfied 39.4
Very Satisfied 12.2
Extremely Satisfied 2.3
TABLE E23. VALUE OF JOINT MEMBERSHIP ARRANGEMENTS (Mean rank,
5=extremely valuable, 1=not at all valuable)
Not at all valuable 10.1%
Somewhat valuable 17.5%
Valuable 27%
Very Valuable 27.4%
Extremely Valuable 18.1%
SECTION VIII. PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
TABLE E24. CURRENT ACADEMIC APPOINTMENT
Male Female US/Canada International
Junior* N 535 138 497 197
% 14.6 20.5 13.7 23.7
Assistant Professor N 1095 277 1217 179
% 29.9 41.1 33.5 21.5
Associate Professor N 987 178 1000 204
% 26.9 26.4 27.5 24.5
Full Professor N 1047 81 920 252
% 28.6 12 25.3 30.3
Total N 3664 674 3634 832
% 100 100 100 100
*Junior includes trainee, postdoctoral fellow, and instructor
TABLE E25. PRINICPAL PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITY
Male Female US/Canada International
Clinician N 3480 569 3274 885
% 78.3 67.5 76.1 78.3
Researcher N 962 274 1028 245
% 21.7 32.5 23.9 21.7
TABLE E26 Usage of Continuing Medical Education Programs*
Clinician Researcher US/Canada International
Offerings at
International Conference
58.3% 80.5% 61.4% 65.2%
ATS State of the Art
Review Course
23.3% 20.2% 20.9% 28.6%
Local chapter CME
conferences
20.3% 13.9% 22.8v 3.3%
ATS-sponsored audio
conferences
2.8% 1% 2.6% 1.5%
CD-ROMS 34.3% 23.1% 28.8% 42.6%
CME courses through
other societies
44.6% 19.7% 43.9% 14.8%
Audio or Video
conferences through
other societies
14% 6.9% 12.9% 9.3%
Other 6% 4.9% 7.2% 4.3%
*Respondents may choose more than one response