375 Points Mean Prizes, The Impact of Portfolio Points and Clinical Specialty on The Engagement of Trainees in Research

Abstract

Abstract Aim Research and scholarship are key outcomes for medical education in order to learn transferable skills outside of the core curriculum as highlighted in 2018 by the General Medical Council. We have provided a historical snapshot of the key factors influencing medical undergraduates and trainees engaging in research. We distributed an anonymous survey to all UK Foundation Trusts and medical schools, which covered simple demographic information, factors influencing involvement in research and intended clinical specialty. Descriptive statistics were calculated for the responses. Results There were 264 responses to the survey, 119 (45.1%) from women. The strongest motivating factor for respondents was points for future applications, which accounted for 138 (52.2%) of responses, and became increasingly important with seniority of respondent. Time accounted for the largest obstacle to engagement in research, with 151 (57.3%) votes. For the 83 responses from aspiring surgeons, the mean number of PubMed citable publications was 2.52 compared to 1.28 for the respondents who listed a non-surgical specialty as their intended career path. Conclusions The UK Foundation Programme recently decided to remove additional educational achievement points (including two points for publications) for the 2023 intake of Foundation doctors. Such a decision, combined with our finding of point-driven reasoning for engagement in research, could result in fewer juniors conducting research. However, given our results highlighting increased engagement in research of aspiring surgeons, it is hoped that this decision will not affect the field of surgical research, but further qualitative analysis is required to explore this.