Spicing up Scholarly Productivity: Impact of a Structured Resident Research Program

Abstract

PURPOSE: To evaluate whether implementation of a structured resident research program improved scholarly productivity at an academic obstetrics and gynecology (OB-GYN) program. BACKGROUND: The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education requires resident participation in scholarly activity. Since the 1970s, OB-GYN residents at University of Colorado (CU) have been required to complete a research project. Starting with the graduating class of 2016, the CU OB-GYN program appointed two Assistant Program Directors of Resident Research who instituted a formalized research program including didactics, timelines, detailed protocol review, an expectation of manuscript submission, and an internal grant funding mechanism. METHODS: We compared scholarly productivity related to the required resident research projects for the graduating classes of 2012-2014 (before program implementation) and 2016-2018 (after implementation). Two investigators independently searched for abstracts presented at national meetings, grants received, and publications using PubMed and Google search engines. We also confirmed with the resident or mentor. We compared the proportion of residents who had an accepted abstract or manuscript for their research projects using Fisher’s exact test. RESULTS: Fifty-four residents were included; 27 before and 27 after program implementation. The proportion of residents who had oral presentations at a national meeting remained the same (11%), whereas those with an accepted poster presentation increased from 44% to 89% (p=0.001). The proportion who had manuscript publication increased from 26% to 59% (p=0.03). DISCUSSION: A formalized, structured research curriculum resulted in improved scholarly productivity. Our experience can guide other programs faced with the challenge of improving resident scholarly activity and output.