Roger De la Cerna-Luna, MD
Physiatrist
EsSalud
Lima, Lima, Peru
To assess characteristics, proficiency profile, and specialty perceptions of Peruvian physiatrists.
Design: This cross-sectional survey involved 105 physiatrists who participated by completing an online, anonymous, and voluntary questionnaire. The study was conducted in August 2023, following approval from the ethics committee. A Google Forms questionnaire, containing detailed information about the study, was distributed to the participants, and their responses were monitored through direct communication. The main outcome measures included 24 questions covering sociodemographic data, training-related characteristics, work-related characteristics, proficiency perceptions, and specialty perceptions.
Results: Most surveyed physiatrists were females (80%) and completed residency between 2017 and 2022 (46.7%) in Lima (95.2%). 97.2% had not pursued a subspecialty fellowship, and 58.1% were not involved in teaching. Finding employment after residency was easy for 41.9%. Most worked in a Ministry of Health institution (32.4%) and had a permanent employment status under the 728 regime (33.3%). Regarding proficiency perceptions, 60% felt well-prepared and 78.1% felt contributing significantly to the rehabilitation team. Most reported having much proficiency (Level 3) in the five evaluated competency domains. Mastery in musculoskeletal ultrasound (US) (10.2%) and electrodiagnostic medicine (EDX) (4.08%) was reported mainly by those completing residency between 2017 and 2022. Only 2.9% reported having the ability to conduct scientific research. Overall satisfaction with the specialty was high (75.2%).
Conclusions: We found that most of surveyed Peruvian physiatrists did not have a subspecialty, were not involved in teaching, worked in the public sector, had permanent employment status, considered themselves to have much proficiency in all evaluated domains, reported low mastery in US and EDX, and were very satisfied with the specialty.
