Scholarly training objectives and requirements for paediatric residents in Canada

Abstract

In the absence of national standards for scholarly requirements, paediatric resident training varies significantly across Canadian programs. This variability may contribute to significant differences in trainee experiences and productivity. A panel of coordinators of paediatric resident research programs from across Canada met in 2014, to share experiences and identify barriers to successful resident scholarly activity. A survey of all programs was completed in 2015. A scoping review and series of meetings led to the development of a proposed list of expectations, timelines for successful completion and consequences for not completing a scholarly project. We propose a harmonized list of scholarly competencies and activities for paediatric residents in Canada to accomplish before completing their training. We also propose that programs implement standardized timelines and consequences in the event that a resident does not meet their program's scholarly expectations.

Creation of novel pediatric academic curriculum and its evaluation using mixed methods

“…We were also pleased to note increased scholarly activity with ASK, as reported with comparable rotations[9,24,27]. Previously, the most frequently identified major barrier to completing a scholarly project was lack of time[15,30]. However, the lack of a research curriculum, statistical support, and funding have also been identified[30].…”

“…Our curriculum was structured using the 6 steps of Kern [13] Step 1: Problem identification and general needs assessment The senior author is a member of the Canadian Pediatric Resident Research group; bi-annual meetings are held with the Canadian Paediatric Society to share strategies to enhance scholarly and academic activities [14,15]. An extensive literature search was conducted, and contacts were made with other training programs to share curricula, which largely focussed on scholarly activities rather than the range of academic skills we wished to highlight.…”

Association between residents' scholarly activities and publication requirement policy

“…It is not known which is the best among the various reported methods on how to promote scholarly activities in residency programs 7,9,12–21 . Some studies concluded that “a scholarly culture is most important” to promote scholarly activities 8,16 and the JPS reform of the publication requirement policy in 2017 can be said to act at least as a compelling force, so to speak, to promote a scholarly culture.…”

“…It is not known which is the best among the various reported methods on how to promote scholarly activities in residency programs. 7,9,[12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21] Some studies concluded that "a scholarly culture is most important" to promote scholarly activities 8,16 and the JPS reform of the publication requirement policy in 2017 can be said to act at least as a compelling force, so to speak, to promote a scholarly culture. It has been reported from Japan and other countries that conference presentations do not always lead to publications, 11,17,19,20 so the results of this study showing that publications increased while presentations did not, and that not only case reports but also original articles increased, may indicate a growing scholarly culture.…”

“…11 There have been many reports on the promotion of scholarly activities in postgraduate training worldwide.The reported methods were varied, such as research curricula, protected research time, supervision or mentorship, research progress tracks, or required scholarly activities, although it is not known which strategy is most effective. 7,9,[12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21] In 2017, the Japan Pediatric Society (JPS) made at least one article publication mandatory as a prerequisite for taking the pediatrics board certification test, with the goal of promoting scholarship. Although the number of article publications has been reported to be associated with this reform, 22 the trends and details of publications are not known.…”