Background Students with a greater number of research experiences are more successful in the National Residency Match Program (NRMP.) As a result, approximately two-thirds of allopathic medical schools have implemented a scholarly research project (SP) as a part of their curriculum. While inclusion of an SP in the medical school curriculum increases research productivity, literature to date has not investigated the frequency with which it is a discussion topic during residency interviews. Methods One hundred twenty-three students from the graduating class of 2019 and 2020 at the University of Arizona College of Medicine - Phoenix (UACOMP) completed a 17-question survey examining the student’s SP and whether they completed additional research, with an overall response rate of 82.6%. Survey participants were asked to quantify how many residency interviewers asked about their SP or additional research during the interview process. Results Twenty-seven percent of interviewers asked students about their SP and 41% of interviewers asked students about additional non-SP research. 40% of interviewers asked about research overall to include SP and/or non-SP research. A greater percentage of interviewers (50%) asked students about their SP if they had undertaken additional research compared to interviewers of students who did not undertake additional research (29%, p = 0.0237). A greater percentage of interviewers at academic institutions (31%) asked students about their SP, compared with a smaller percentage of interviewers at predominantly non-academic programs (22%, p = 0.0054). There were no significant differences in the proportion of interviewers asking about the SP based on the type of specialty, competitiveness of specialty, relatedness project topic to specialty, and publication/presentation status of project. Conclusion Student research experiences may serve as a frequent discussion topic during the residency interview. Approximately one-quarter of interviewers ask about the SP regardless of specialty, research topic, and publication/presentation status of the project. Students with additional research experiences beyond their SP may experience a higher percentage of interviewers asking about their SP. Also, students applying to predominantly academic programs may experience a higher proportion of interview questions about research compared to peers interviewing at non-academic programs.

Background: The medical student scholarly project (SP) promotes self-directed independent learning and engenders critical thinking skills. The SP also allows medical students to understand scientific methods and promotes life-long learning practices. More medical schools have adopted aspects of the SP into their curricula, and notably the SP approaches have varied widely from one school to the next. Several studies have carefully documented the SP options for specific medical schools, but no study to date has compared the curricular components of the various medical schools with required SPs. Methods: This study queried 156 allopathic medical schools based in the U. S. to identify the curricular components of the various SPs. Each SP was analyzed to determine: (1) if it was required or optional, (2) its duration and placement within the four-year curriculum, (3) the capstone requirement (e.g., thesis, manuscript, and/or poster), (4) if the research required a data-driven research question and hypothesis, (5) if there was a formal curriculum dedicated to the SP, and (6) a list of the program objectives.Results: Our research shows that of the 156 medical schools examined, 108 schools (69%) have an SP included in their curricula, and 62 of the 156 (39.7%) require an SP for graduation. Only 24 (15.4%) of the 156 medical schools queried have a required SP that must have a data-driven research question. Of the 24, we found that six medical schools have a required SP spanning all four years of medical school, with a research question/hypothesis-driven project and completion of a final written thesis or journal article style manuscript. Conclusion: Numerous studies have described successful models of the medical student SP. We summarize the curricular components of the six medical schools that have a required, spanning all four years of medical school with a research question/hypothesis driven project and completion of a final written thesis or journal article style manuscript. We also describe two additional schools with comparable SP requirements, however, one of these example schools does not require a final written product and the other school concentrates the SP in a five-month period toward the end of the medical school curriculum.

Background Students with a greater number of research experiences are more successful in the National Residency Match Program (NRMP.) As a result, approximately two-thirds of allopathic medical schools have implemented a scholarly research project (SP) as a part of their curriculum. While inclusion of a SP in the medical school curriculum increases research productivity, literature to date has not investigated its ability to provide students with a means to communicate their scholarly strengths to residency programs during interview discussions. Methods 123 students from the graduating class of 2019 and 2020 at the University of Arizona College of Medicine Phoenix (UACOMP) completed a 17-question survey examining the student’s SP and whether they completed additional research. Survey participants were asked to quantify how many residency interviewers asked about their SP or additional research during the interview process. Results 27% of interviewers (SD 27.0) asked students about their SP and 41% of interviewers (SD 32.0) asked students about additional non-SP research. 40% of interviewers asked about research overall to include SP and/or non-SP research. A greater percentage of interviewers (50%, SD 26.2) asked students about their SP if they had undertaken additional research compared to interviewers of students who did not undertake additional research (29%, SD 28.4, p = 0.0237). A greater percentage of interviewers at academic institutions (31%, SD 27.9) asked students about their SP, compared with a smaller percentage of interviewers at predominantly non-academic programs (22%, SD 25.5, p = 0.0054). There were no significant differences in the proportion of interviewers asking about the SP based on the type of specialty, competitiveness of specialty, topic relatedness of project, and publication/presentation status of project. Conclusion Student research experiences may serve as a meaningful discussion topic during the residency interview. Approximately one-third of interviewers ask about the SP regardless of specialty, research topic, and publication/presentation status of the project. Students with additional research experiences beyond their SP may experience a higher percentage of interviewers asking about their SP. Also, students applying to predominantly academic programs may experience a higher proportion of interview questions about research compared to peers interviewing at non-academic programs.