Increase in residency scholarly activity as a result of resident-led initiative

Scholarly activity (SA) is a fundamental component of family medicine residency training. Despite the variety of SA options, the output of resident presentations and publications remains disappointingly low, and many residents voice frustration with fulfilling the research requirements. A resident-driven process improvement project was undertaken with the goal of achieving a 100% increase of peer-reviewed publications and scholarly presentations by residents with secondary goals of doubling the involvement of staff, residents, and visiting medical or physician assistant students.

This project involves (1) increasing awareness of conferences for scholarly submission, (2) assignment of residents in a resident research team to lead efforts, (3) pairing of interns/students with senior mentors with similar interests, (4) faculty to include one resident on all projects, and (5) monthly SA meetings to track research progress, share ideas, and troubleshoot areas of difficulty. Scholarly totals were compared between the 2011--2012 and 2012--2013 academic years.

The SA goals were achieved on all fronts. The number of resident presentations increased from three to 28 (seven regional, 10 national, and 11 international presentations), and resident peer-reviewed publications increased from two to six when compared to the previous year. Scholarly participation doubled at all levels.

The authors recommend that other residencies consider promoting increased resident-to-resident scholarly mentorship, early planning with scheduled timeline, and increasing awareness of SA opportunities yearly.