Resident Research Mentoring Teams: A Support Program to Increase Resident Research Productivity

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Research Methodology
• Academic Publishing

Background:

• Scholarly activity is a core requirement for graduate medical education.
• Residents often face barriers in completing research projects.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the impact of a resident research mentoring team (RRMT) program on research project presentations and publications.
• To evaluate the feasibility of the RRMT program.

Main Methods:

• A before-and-after study design compared resident research output before (2004-2011) and after (2016-2019) RRMT implementation.
• The RRMT comprised faculty, statisticians, and research staff providing regular guidance.
• Data on presentations and publications were gathered from multiple academic databases.

Main Results:

• Residents in the post-RRMT group had significantly higher rates of presentations (50% vs. 16.2%) and publications (57.5% vs. 28.4%) compared to the pre-RRMT group.
• The RRMT group was independently associated with a 3.62-fold increased likelihood of project presentation or publication.
• Statistical significance was achieved for all primary outcomes (P=.001 to P=.002).

Conclusions:

• The resident research mentoring team (RRMT) program is effective in enhancing scholarly activity.
• Structured support systems like the RRMT are crucial for increasing resident research presentations and publications.