Residents as Research Subjects: Balancing Resident Education and Contribution to Advancing Educational Innovations.

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Research Ethics
• Resident Training

Background:

• Gaps exist in protecting resident rights and managing the impact of research participation on clinical training.
• Current literature lacks a defined framework for resident involvement in educational studies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a consensual framework for including residents as research participants.
• To protect residents' rights while enhancing their research contributions.

Main Methods:

• Nominal group technique with a residency training committee and experts.
• Three iterative meetings conducted between September 2018 and April 2019.
• Thematic text analysis of meeting data to formulate recommendations.

Main Results:

• Five key themes identified: freedom of participation, avoidance of over-solicitation, time management, emotional safety, and educational safety.
• Recommendations include improving consent forms, limiting study numbers, scheduling research time, providing debriefing/counseling, and separating research involvement from clinical assessment.
• Ensuring research participation does not negatively affect the teacher-learner relationship or clinical evaluations.

Conclusions:

• A framework addressing residents' rights and contributions in medical education research was established.
• Key issues identified include participation freedom, over-solicitation, time commitment, emotional well-being, and educational safety.
• The findings provide guidance for ethical and effective resident involvement in research.