Determinants of scholarly project completion in a paediatric resident program in Canada

Abstract

Background: The primary aims of this study were to: 1) assess barriers and facilitators of completing scholarly projects from residents and faculty mentor perspectives, 2) determine the perceived value of new initiatives designed to support resident scholarly projects and 3) determine if these initiatives led to changes in resident publications. Design and Methods: Between June and September 2014, we surveyed 18 paediatric residents and 41 faculty mentors regarding barriers to resident scholarly project completion and the value of new initiatives to support scholarly activity. We also tracked scientific publications by residents before and after implementation of these initiatives. Results: The primary perceived barriers to research for residents and faculty were lack of protected time (64.3% versus 68.6%, respectively), lack of resident interest in scholarly activity (50.0% versus 60.0%, respectively) and lack of mentor motivation. Mentors and residents did not agree that lack of proper training in research (29% versus 54%, respectively) and faculty motivation (29% versus 17%, respectively) were barriers to completing a project. A dedicated research coordinator (71.4% versus 70.6%, respectively), a revised research curriculum (71.4% versus 41.2%, respectively) and works in progress sessions (50.0% versus 61.8%, respectively) were perceived as valuable initiatives to the program. These initiatives were not associated with changes in annual resident publication rates.

The Effect of a Points System on Incentivizing Academic Behaviors of Attending Ophthalmologists

“…The responsibility of balancing these intrinsic and extrinsic motivators falls into the purview of department heads and administrators. Most studies that have aimed to increase research productivity in medicine have targeted residents rather than attending physicians [ 4 , 5 , 6 ]. One model that has effectively increased neurology resident research activity is a compulsory system that requires graduating residents to complete a peer reviewed publication or presentation [ 6 ].…”

“…This particular limitation also represents the pragmatic nature of such a study, because all institutions implementing their own academic compensation programs will experience similar challenges in generalizability. Traditionally, physician compensation studies have also been performed at single institutions [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 9 , 19 ]. Second, three years of follow-up may or may not represent a long enough time course to see an uptick in publications.…”

“…While financial incentives have often been shown to improve patient care, it is unknown whether or not these incentives would lead to similar improvements in academic productivity. With respect to research output, there has been an abundance of research aimed at the resident-physician level, but the same cannot be said for attendings [ 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ]. A key difference between resident and attending engagement in research should be noted: while residents are often required to reach research quotas for graduation or program requirements, attendings are often free from these quotas.…”

Common Problematic Scholarly Activity Project Planning Expectations of Project Novices

“…The SAPN may frequently start with nebulous project ideas they expect to somehow yield feasible SA project designs. 9,10,32 For example, the authors have heard from the SAPN, "I thought it would be interesting to study individuals with condition x." Although this type of orientation may eventually lead to useful descriptive pilot (i.e., more exploratory, descriptive) projects, 5,31,33 the authors have generally concluded that this may comprise an unrealistic desire to study especially terribly complex healthcare topics in initial projects.…”

“…[1][2][3] Second, the inclusion of community and universitybased residents and faculty in SA projects leads to improved understanding of the medical literature and enhanced clinical practices, arguably producing more "well-rounded" physicians. [4][5][6] Finally, while conducting SA projects during a residency can be quite complex, [7][8][9][10][11] resident physicians, with their "new set of eyes" perspective, may in some ways be in a better position to conduct SA projects to investigate patient care inconsistencies compared to their clinically ex-perienced faculty. 10,[12][13][14] The authors' Statewide Campus System (SCS) in the Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine (MSUCOM) is a consortium of graduate medical residency programs across the state of Michigan.…”