A Multifaceted Research Engagement Program Improved the Academic Productivity of General Surgery Residents

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Surgical Research
• Academic Medicine

Background:

• Scarcity of surgeon-scientists necessitates enhanced resident research training.
• Engaging residents in research is crucial for academic productivity.
• General surgery residency programs face challenges in fostering research output.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of a multifaceted research engagement program on general surgery residents' academic productivity.
• To determine if the program increased manuscript publication rates.
• To assess differences in productivity between research and clinical track residents.

Main Methods:

• Implementation of a 4-pillar research engagement program (requirement, curriculum, infrastructure, research day).
• Comparison of manuscript publications per chief resident before (2010-2013) and after (2013-2017) program implementation.
• Subgroup analyses for research track and clinical track residents.

Main Results:

• Overall manuscript publications per chief resident significantly increased from 2.3 to 8.5 (p=0.01).
• Clinical track residents showed a significant increase in publications (median 0.9 to 1.3, p=0.03).
• Research track residents had a nonsignificant increase in publications (average 6.3 to 15.4, p=0.10).

Conclusions:

• A multifaceted research engagement program significantly increased general surgery residents' publication rates.
• The program demonstrated effectiveness in enhancing research productivity, even for clinical track residents.
• Program components can inform other institutions aiming to improve resident research engagement.