Characteristics of the Association of Residents in Radiation Oncology Educator of the Year Award Recipients

Abstract

<h3>Purpose/Objective(s)</h3> The Association of Residents in Radiation Oncology (ARRO) presents the Educator of the Year Award to outstanding faculty members at each participating institution every year. Given that educational efforts are an important component in the process of academic promotion, the aim of this study was to characterize the recipients of this award. <h3>Materials/Methods</h3> We identified recipients of the annual ARRO Educator of the Year Award from the years 2008-2019. Publicly available website domains were accessed to obtain data regarding clinical treatment site, number of sites treated, whether they were at the same institution where they trained, academic rank, gender, ASTRO fellow status, repeat awardee status during the time period and number of years since board certification. H- and m-indices were determined from Scopus and calculated based on the time of the award. General workforce data was obtained from ASTRO and recently published articles. The authors performed correlative analyses stratified by gender and logistic regression to determine predictors of repeat recognition with multiple awards. <h3>Results</h3> A total of 607 ARRO educator awards were presented from 2008-2019. The majority of recipients were male (77.6%) and assistant professors (39.0%). The median number of years from board certification was 7 (IQR 3-17) and the median h- and m-indices were 14 (IQR 8-25) and 1 (IQR 0.6-1.6), respectively. When stratified by gender, publication metrics were significantly higher for men (p<0.05) and men were more likely to be repeat awardees (p<0.001) and have higher academic rank (p=0.007). On multivariate analysis, those of higher rank were more likely to be repeat awardees (associate OR 3.55, p<0.001; full professor OR 2.04, p=0.046) and less likely to be women (OR 0.41; p=0.002), while h- and m-indices were not significant predictors for being a repeat awardee. <h3>Conclusion</h3> Recipients of the ARRO educator award appear to be diverse in rank and experience, with a similar distribution of awards to men and women comparable to the radiation oncology workforce. However, associate professor rank and gender most impacted continued recognition of educational excellence.