Abstract
A significant number of residents in postgraduate training programs pursue dedicated research training. Currently, no formal curricula exist to transition residents back into clinical roles following dedicated research leave. This scoping review aims to determine what literature exists on the challenges faced by trainees who interrupt their clinical training for extended periods of time for research leave. The Pubmed and Medline databases were searched for all study designs related to postgraduate trainees taking academic or research leave. A three-step selection process including title, abstract and full-article review was employed to identify articles that mentioned decay of knowledge, skill or competence. A narrative review of the literature was generated to present key themes identified within the studies. The search yielded 174 articles of which five investigated resident skill decay during research leave. The five studies included for analysis were cohort studies that used general surgery residents’ self-perception and faculty members’ perception of residents’ skill decay as a measure. Residents and faculty perceived decay of residents’ technical skills, leadership skills and knowledge following dedicated research leave. The greatest decay perceived was in technical skills, specifically with more complex tasks and longer periods of non-use. This review identified that residents and faculty perceive a decay of resident skills following dedicated research training. To provide the necessary support to limit this potential decay, as well as to assist in the transition back into clinical training, the needs of and challenges faced by research residents and postgraduate programs must be better understood.
Highlights
BackgroundResearch training influences the trainees’ future career and academic activities [1,2,3,4,5]
This review identified that residents and faculty perceive a decay of resident skills following dedicated research training
There is a paucity of literature, and all of which are perception-based studies, this scoping review has demonstrated that surgical residents perceive decay of competence as a result of dedicated research training
Summary
Research training influences the trainees’ future career and academic activities [1,2,3,4,5]. It is associated with better clinical care and is instrumental in academic teaching environments [6]. The number of Canadian postgraduate trainees enrolled in Clinician Investigator programs, including CIP, MD/PhD, and MD/MSc programs, has demonstrated significant growth over the past several years [14]. The concept of research years mid-residency is not unique to Canada, as similar programs known as Clinician Investigator Training Programs (CITP), exist at institutions in the United States [15,16]
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