Resident Scholarly Activity and Productivity Outcomes Before and After Implementing a Structured Research Program: A...

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Emergency Medicine Research

Background:

• Emergency medicine (EM) residency programs mandate scholarly activity for trainees.
• A formal Resident Research Program (RRP) was established in 2017 to support physician residents.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of the RRP on resident scholarly productivity.
• To measure the association between the RRP implementation and research output.

Main Methods:

• A before-and-after study design compared residents before and after the RRP launch (2013-2023).
• The RRP provided dedicated resources including study coordinators, research assistants, mentorship, and funding.
• Scholarly productivity metrics (publications, presentations, first-author manuscripts) were tracked and analyzed using Poisson regression.

Main Results:

• Annual mean publications per class increased from 6.2 to 10.4 (RR 1.68).
• Presentations per class rose from 3.7 to 7.4 (RR 2.01).
• First-author publications per class significantly increased from 2.2 to 5.8 (RR 2.66).

Conclusions:

• A structured Resident Research Program is associated with enhanced scholarly productivity in EM residents.
• Targeted research resources effectively support resident research and departmental academic engagement.
• Further investigation into resident perceptions and the quality of scholarly activity is warranted.