Understanding Faculty and Trainee Needs Related to Scholarly Activity in a Large, Nonuniversity Graduate Medical Education Program

Abstract

Context: Graduate medical education (GME) programs must develop curriculum to ensure scholarly activity among trainees and faculty to meet accreditation requirements and to support evidence-based medicine.Objective: Test whether research-related needs and interests varied across four groups: primary care trainees, specialty trainees, primary care faculty, and specialty faculty.Design: We surveyed a random sample of trainees and faculty in Kaiser Permanente Southern California's GME programs. We investigated group differences in outcomes using Fisher exact and Kruskal-Wallis tests.Main Outcome Measures: Research experiences, skills, barriers, motivators, and interests in specific research skills development.Results: Participants included 47 trainees and 26 faculty (response rate = 30%). Among primary care faculty, 12 (71%) reported little or no research experience vs 1 (11%) for specialty faculty, 14 (41%) for primary care trainees, and 1 (8%) for specialty trainees (p < 0.001). Submission of research to the institutional review board, an abstract to a conference, or a manuscript for publication in the previous year varied across groups (p = 0.001, p = 0.003, and p < 0.001, respectively). Overall self-reported research skills also differed across groups (p < 0.001). Primary care faculty reported the lowest skill level. Research barriers that differed across groups included other work roles taking priority; desire for work-life balance; and lack of managerial support, research equipment, administrative support, and funding.Conclusion: Faculty and trainees in primary care and specialties have differing research-related needs that GME programs should consider when designing curricula to support scholarly activity. Developing research skills of primary care faculty is a priority to support trainees' scholarly activity.

Improvement of Resident Scholarship in an Internal Medicine Training Program

“…Scholarship increased within the TAMC IM residency program after instituting reproducible, evidenced-based interventions [2][3][4][5][6] requiring minimal resources. Overall, the interventions described established a collaborative environment between faculty and residents (Table 2).…”

“…Other programs have utilized similar interventions to improve scholarly activity. [2][3][4][5][6] Among primary care specialties, lack of mentorship and protected time to complete scholarship impacts their ability to fulfill the requirement. 4 Other factors, e.g., prior research experience and desire for fellowship training, may also affect scholarship.…”

“…[2][3][4][5][6] Among primary care specialties, lack of mentorship and protected time to complete scholarship impacts their ability to fulfill the requirement. 4 Other factors, e.g., prior research experience and desire for fellowship training, may also affect scholarship. [1][2][3][4]6 Our project presents a standardized, literature-derived approach that is transferable across ACGME programs.…”

“…4 Other factors, e.g., prior research experience and desire for fellowship training, may also affect scholarship. [1][2][3][4]6 Our project presents a standardized, literature-derived approach that is transferable across ACGME programs.…”

“…We initiated simple, reproducible interventions to improve resident participation in and understanding of the medical research process, based on previously published methods. [2][3][4][5][6]…”