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Effect of protected research time on ABSITE scores during general surgery residency
Bruce A Orkin1, Jennifer Poirier1, Areta Kowal-Vern1
1Department of Surgery, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA.
Background:
Objective - To determine whether residents with one or more years of dedicated research time (Research Residents, RR) improved their ABSITE scores compared to those without (Non-Research Residents, N-RR).
Methods:
A retrospective review of general surgery residents' ABSITE scores from 1995 to 2016 was performed. RR were compared to N-RR. Additional analysis of At Risk (AR) v Not At Risk residents (NAR) (
Results:
Cohort - 147 residents (34 RR and 113 N-RR). There were no differences in initial ABSITE scores (p = 0.47). By definition, the AR group had lower scores than NAR. Overall, post-research RR v PGY-4 N-RR scores did not differ (p = 0.84). Only the AR residents improved their scores (p = 0.0009 v NAR p = 0.42), regardless of research group (p = 0.70).
Conclusion:
Protected research time did not improve residents' ABSITE scores, regardless of initial scores. At Risk residents improved regardless of research group status.
