The Resident Outcome Project: Increased Academic Productivity Associated with a Formal Clinical Research Curriculum

A formal 2-year clinical research project in conjunction with a system-based practice and practice-based learning and improvement curriculum was initiated for all residents in our program. Within the structure of this formal clinical research curriculum, residents are required to develop a research hypothesis, develop an appropriate study design, collect and analyze data, and present a completed project.

At the end of the PGY1 year, residents select a project with an emphasis on quality improvement or clinical outcomes. The first 6 months of the 2-year program are dedicated to the identification of a faculty mentor and submission of a formal proposal to both the departmental education committee and to the institutional IRB. Over the following 12 months, residents meet monthly for required group research meetings. The final 6 months are focused on data analysis and project completion.

Seventy-five residents have successfully completed the clinical research program since it was initiated in 2002. Completed projects led to abstracts accepted at 33 national or regional meetings and 11 peer reviewed publications to date. In addition, 3 major hospital wide quality improvement measures were initiated based on project findings. Following the first peer reviewed publication associated with these research projects in 2006, there have been significant increases in not only the number of accepted abstracts from these resident projects (3/18 [17%] vs 30/57 [53%], p = 0.008) but also the total number of all accepted resident clinical research (mean accepted abstracts per year 7.9 vs 1.0, p = 0.009 and mean peer reviewed publications per year 6.8 vs 2.0, p = 0.003.) DISCUSSION: Increased academic productivity was observed after a formal resident clinical research program was initiated in our program. Resident research efforts extended beyond the specific initial outcome projects as skills gained allowed for future independent clinical research.