Restructuring the orthopedic resident research curriculum to increase scholarly activity

Limited time and funding are challenges to meeting the research requirement of the orthopedic residency curriculum.

We report a reorganized research curriculum that increases research quality and productivity at our academic orthopedic medical center.

Changes made to the curriculum, which began in 2006 and were fully phased in by 2008, included research milestones for each training year, a built-in support structure, use of an accredited bio-skills laboratory, mentoring by National Institutes of Health-funded scientists, and protected time to engage in required research and prepare scholarly peer-reviewed publications.

Total grant funding of resident research increased substantially, from $15,000 in 2007 (8 graduates) to $380,000 in 2010 (9 graduates), and the number of publications also increased. The 12 residents who graduated in 2005 published 16 papers from 2000 to 2006, compared to 84 papers published by the 9 residents who graduated in 2010. The approximate costs per year included $19,000 (0.3 full-time equivalent) for an academic research coordinator; $16,000 for resident travel to professional meetings; reimbursement for 213 faculty hours; and funding for resident salaries while on the research rotation, paid through the general hospital budget.

The number of grants and peer-reviewed publications increased considerably after our residency research curriculum was reorganized to allow dedicated research time and improved mentoring and infrastructure.