Curriculum changes to increase research in a family medicine residency program

Scholarly activity is an important component of residency programs. Amidst many other professional obligations, finding time and support for resident research can be challenging. Thus, it is important to equip residents with the tools needed to perform scholarly activity both during and after residency.

We studied a series of curriculum initiatives on scholarly productivity at Naval Hospital Jacksonville. Educational interventions were rolled out in three parts. First, a faculty research coordinator (FRC) was established. Second, a scholarly activity point system was adapted from one published by Seehusen et al, along with research and conference tracking systems. Third, a resident research coordinator (RRC) position was created. The FRC and RRC acted as liaisons between residents, faculty, and non-faculty staff and created an annual scholarly activity workshop. Scholarly productivity was analyzed using descriptive statistics.

Prior to the roll out of these curriculum changes, the number of resident scholarly projects per resident, defined as regional or higher posters/presentations and peer-reviewed publications, was 0.07 with four residents involved. In 2012, the research per resident was 0.91, with 26 residents involved.

Our analysis reveals an association between these new curricular initiatives and increased research among residents, similar to growth demonstrated by the innovations of Seehusen et al. Limitations of this study include reliance on the accuracy of past records and a small sample size. We believe this is a model that could be implemented in other residency programs to support scholarly activity requirements.