RT Journal
A1 Hueston W
T1 FUture salary and medical student specialty choice
JF JAMA
JO JAMA
YR 2009
FD February 25
VO 301
IS 8
SP 826
OP 827
DO 10.1001/jama.2009.161
UL http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jama.2009.161
AB 
To the Editor: The Research Letter by Dr Ebell1 suggested that US senior medical student interest in specialties is related to mean specialty salary. However, Ebell used as his measure of interest the US senior fill rate in each specialty in the match program. In my view, this is an incorrect metric of interest because it depends entirely on the denominator (how many positions are offered within a specialty). The number of positions available in a specialty has nothing to do with student interest but rather reflects local needs of hospitals, specialty interests, and other factors unrelated to students.