Abstract
PurposeThe purpose of this study was to identify modifiable factors associated with research activity among residents working in orthopedic surgery and traumatology.MethodsResidents at 796 university-affiliated hospitals in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland were invited to participate. The online survey consisted of questions that ascertained 13 modifiable and 17 non-modifiable factors associated with the residents’ current research activities. Responses of 129 residents were analyzed. Univariate linear regression was used to determine the association of individual factors with the current research activity (hours per week). The impact of significant non-modifiable factors (with unadjusted p values < 0.05) was controlled for using multivariate linear regression.ResultsThe univariate analysis demonstrated six non-modifiable factors that were significantly associated with the current research activity: a University hospital setting (p < 0.001), an A-level hospital setting (p = 0.024), Swiss residents (p = 0.0012), the completion of a dedicated research year (p = 0.007), female gender (p = 0.016), and the department’s size (p = 0.048). Multivariate regression demonstrated that the number of protected research days per year (p < 0.029) and the percentage of protected days, that were known 1 week before (p < 0.001) or the day before (p < 0.001), were significantly associated with a higher research activity.ConclusionsAs hypothesized, more frequent and predictable protected research days were associated with higher research activity among residents in orthopedic surgery and traumatology.Level of evidenceIII.
Highlights
Motivating and enabling residents to perform research during residency training is a challenge for program directors and department chairs [9]
Of the non-modifiable factors, the univariate analysis identified employment in a university hospital (p < 0.001), completion of ≥ 1-year time for research purposes (p = 0.007), and department size (p = 0.048) as factors associated with increased current research activity
This study did not confirm the hypotheses that the presence of faculty members who produce high-volume, meaningful research and the presence of robust research infrastructure and funding are associated with the residents’ research activity
Summary
Motivating and enabling residents to perform research during residency training is a challenge for program directors and department chairs [9]. The implementation of changes to resident curricula requires careful consideration from the program leadership. Extended author information available on the last page of the article potential ramifications of these changes are unavailable. There is a lack of knowledge on the consequences of such changes. Often, these changes are implemented on a trial and error basis
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