Gender and Race Discrepancies in Resident Research Output at a Tertiary Care Center [ID: 1374349

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education requires residents to complete scholarly activity prior to graduation, but this does not necessarily translate into peer-reviewed publications. However, level of scholarly activity has been directly linked to successful fellowship match, and those who identify as women, African American, Hispanic, or Native American (underrepresented in medicine [URiM]) are not well represented in fellowship positions. We therefore evaluated for race and gender-based discrepancy in scholarly activity as it relates to research involvement. METHODS: An IRB-approved (#15746) survey was sent to all residents at a tertiary hospital. This survey asked residents to share demographic information, when they got involved with research, number of first-author articles, and experience with presentations. Chi-square analysis was used. RESULTS: Analysis demonstrated that women began researching earlier than men (P=.0027). However, this did not translate to a significant increase in poster presentations (P=.270), oral presentations (P= .0522), or number of first-author publications (P=.492). When broken down by race, URiM men were exposed to research later than White men, White women, and URiM women (P<.005). There was no difference in poster presentations (P=.350) or first-author publications (P=.718), but White and URiM men had more experience giving oral presentations at conferences compared to their female colleagues (P<.005). CONCLUSION: The responses demonstrate that there is not a lack of involvement in research leading to less research output. In fact, despite earlier introduction to research, women have similar research outcomes as their peers. Therefore, effort needs to be placed on ensuring access to resources that assist with publishing research.