Relationship between Citation-Based Scholarly Activity of United States Radiation Oncology Residents and Subsequent Choice of Academic versus Private Practice Career

Abstract

Citation-based scholarly activity of physicians has become increasingly evaluated via the Hirsch index (h-index), which assesses the number of manuscripts (h) that have been cited at least h times. However, such evaluation involving Radiation Oncology residents is lacking in the peer-reviewed literature. The objective of this study was to assess h-index data and its association with resident choice of academic versus private practice career. A combination of internet searches, telephone interviews, and the 2015 Association of Residents in Radiation Oncology (ARRO) directory was used to compile a list of 2016 radiation oncology resident graduates (163 residents from 76 Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education-certified programs) and their post-residency career choice (academic versus private practice) as previously described (McClelland et al., Practical Radiation Oncology 2017). The Scopus bibliometric citation database was then searched to collect h-index data for each resident. Demographics included in analyses were gender and PhD degree status. The mean h-index score for all resident graduates was 4.15. Residents with a PhD had significantly higher h-index scores (6.75 versus 3.42; p<0.01), while there was no statistically significant difference in h-index scores between male and female residents (4.38 versus 3.36; p=0.14). With regard to career choice, residents choosing academic careers had higher h-index scores than those choosing private practice (5.41 versus 2.96; p<0.01). There was no significant difference in mean h-index scores between male and female residents regardless of private practice (3.15 versus 2.19; p=0.25) or academic (5.80 versus 4.30; p=0.13) career choice. Twenty-one of the 23 residents (91.3%) with an h-index of zero went into private practice, while 13 of the 18 residents (72.2%) with an h-index of at least 10 went into academics. Of the 17 residents with an h-index of one, 12 (70.6%) went into private practice. The average radiation oncology resident graduate has published a minimum of four manuscripts cited at least four times. Graduates with a PhD are significantly more likely to have higher h-index scores, as are residents who choose academic over private practice careers. Eighty-three percent of residents with an h-index score less than two chose private practice careers. There is no significant difference in h-index score between male and female residents regardless of career choice. These results offer up-to-date benchmarks for evaluating radiation oncology resident productivity and have potential utility in predicting career choices post-residency.