Scholarly Output by Army General Surgery Residents

Abstract

Introduction To characterize and compare the scholarly activity of applicants to Army First Year Graduate Medical Education (FYGME) general surgery positions over the course of a residency. Methods All applicants for the 2011–2012 Army FYGME positions in general surgery were included. Applications were used to obtain demographics and peer-reviewed publications. Publications were verified using PubMed and Google Scholar. Applicants were tracked for acceptance to a FYGME position, graduation from a general surgery program, and future publications. Comparisons were made between selectees and non-selectees. Results There were 46 applicants for 22 positions. Seven of the selectees (32%) had prior publications versus three non-selectees (12%; p < 0.109). Eighteen of the selectees went on to complete a general surgery residency by 2017. Of those who completed a general surgery residency, 16 (89%) have at least one publication with the mean number of publications of 4.0 versus 10 (43%), and of those not selected had at least one publication and the mean number of publications was 0.7 (p < 0.05). Conclusions The majority of applications for general surgery residencies have no prior research publications. However, after 6 years, graduates of a general surgery residency have significantly published out those not selected for training.