Scholarly activities--essential to surgical education

Research and scholarship are an integral part of a surgical residency program. A concerted effort by a Director of Surgical Research and a Residency Program Director at the community hospital were successful in addressing this very important part of medical education. A questionnaire was designed and data gathered on the attitudes and involvement toward research activities of graduates over the past 6 years. Increased research and scholarly activity resulted from a requirement of completing 2 research projects on time for residents. Over the period of this study, the number of published full-length papers, number of resident names as authors, number of attending surgeon's names as authors, and numbers of presentations made in-hospital, and at local, national, and international meetings all increased dramatically. Most strikingly, in 1996, there were 4 publications, whereas in 2000, there were 20. Presentations during this period included orals, posters, and videos. Each former resident did an average of about 3 research projects, of which just over 1 was published. Satisfaction with amount and quality of scholarship was over 70%. More than 85% of residents fulfilled the criteria for graduation, and more than 50% were satisfied with the requirement. On average, each graduate had 1 paper published since graduation. Seventy-five percent thought their scholarship had improved their career. It is essential in a community hospital residency program that resident surgeons be trained in the techniques of research and scholarship. In our program, research activity and scholarship have been dramatically improved over the past 6 years.