Changing the Culture: Increasing and Sustaining Anesthesiology Resident Physician Publication Rates.

Area of Science:

• Medical Education Research
• Academic Publishing
• Graduate Medical Training

Background:

• Academic inquiry is crucial for medical advancement and resident training, as required by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education.
• Previous efforts to enhance publication rates have not identified effective educational best practices.
• The study aimed to improve resident publication rates through sustainable, affordable, and universally implementable changes in departmental culture and values.

Purpose of the Study:

• To increase resident publication rates by fostering a culture that values academic productivity.
• To implement and assess a multifaceted initiative focused on shifting departmental values and promoting scientific publication.

Main Methods:

• A retrospective cohort study compared publication rates over four academic years before (2014-2018) and after (2018-2022) the intervention.
• The intervention involved consistent messaging from leadership emphasizing the value of scientific publication and granting residents freedom in choosing scholarly activities.
• Resident authors and publication rates per resident per year were analyzed using descriptive statistics and an unpaired Student t test.

Main Results:

• Resident-authored publications increased by 343%, from 7 preintervention to 24 postintervention.
• Publications per resident per year rose by 357%, from 0.183 ± 0.16 to 0.654 ± 0.11.
• Statistical analysis revealed significant increases in total publications per year (P = .002) and authorship rate (P = .003).

Conclusions:

• A multifaceted academic initiative successfully achieved a threefold increase in resident publication rates.
• Key drivers for increased publication rates include leadership advocacy, author autonomy, and a supportive departmental culture.
• The findings suggest that cultural and value-based changes are effective and sustainable strategies for enhancing academic productivity in residency programs.