Does Dedicated Research Time During Residency Predict Resident Academic Productivity and a Future Academic Career?

Abstract

Objective Dedicated research time is a component of certain plastic surgery programs, and yet, there is limited research examining its impact on academic productivity and career outcomes. This study aimed to assess the effect of dedicated research time on the academic productivity of residents and the likelihood of pursuing an academic career. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study that examined bibliometric indices of integrated plastic surgery residency graduates from 2010 to 2020. Academic productivity was determined by the number of peer-reviewed publications and h-index 1 year after residency graduation. Results were analyzed using descriptive statistics, χ2 test, t test, and logistic regression. Results Data on plastic surgery residency graduates were analyzed (N = 490 from 46 programs). The mean numbers of publications and h-index per research track graduate were 26.1 and 8.23, respectively. The mean numbers of publications and h-index per nonresearch track graduate were 15.9 and 5.97, respectively. After controlling for the University of Alabama research ranking through multilinear regression analysis, we found that pursuing dedicated research time was an independent predictor of increased h-index and publication output, although it did not predict an increased likelihood of pursuing an academic career. Conclusions Participating in dedicated research during residency increases academic productivity, irrespective of the residency program’s research rank. Given this finding, offering research years can help support the mission of fostering academic opportunities within plastic surgery.

Curriculum for Early Exposure to Clinical Informatics and Data Science for Noninformatics Trainees to Promote Interest and Inclusion in Informatics

“…We also noted attrition from seminar learners (n ¼ 19) to longitudinal learners (n ¼ 11). As others have found that protecting research time for trainees may be correlated with academic output, 18,19 one potential hypothesis for this discrepancy is that our trainees, who did not have protected time for this elective curriculum may have been limited in their ability to participate because of their clinical workload. Although some residency programs afford flexibility through X þ Y systems, in which residents switch between 4 weeks of an inpatient service followed by 2 to 4 weeks of an elective rotation with flexibility for protected academic time, this may not be true for all residencies or fellowships, particularly procedural subspecialties.…”

Correlation between research productivity during and after orthopaedic surgery training

“…The mean number of publications post-training was significantly higher than the mean while training. Several different reasons could account for this but when asked, residents have listed lack of time, insufficient research skills, the intensity of clinical duties, financial support, and inadequate mentorship as the major barriers to project completion [ 4 , [14] , [15] , [16] ]. Due to a growing pressure to increase clinical activities, more than half of surgeons report spending <20 % of their efforts on research creating a visible lack of modeling and mentorship within programs for residents [ 17 ].…”

Residency Training Pathways of Program Directors and Chiefs/Chairs in Plastic Surgery

“…This result is consistent with previous studies that demonstrated that applicants with completed research fellowships were more likely to match into plastic surgery, partially due to a greater number of publications. [16][17][18] However, fewer people from the indirect pathway group completed a research year. This is also consistent with the fact that independent residency applicants tend to have fewer preresidency publications.…”

“…29,30 Older plastic surgery match literature demonstrated that successful match rates were associated with Alpha Omega Alpha status and graduating from a top-40 ranked medical school. 14,18,19,31,32 This is likely due to the fact that medical schools not ranked in the top 40 provided poorer exposure to plastic surgery. Stoehr et al looked at residency pathways taken by current plastic surgery residents in the United States, focusing on the routes taken by those residents who were unsuccessful in their initial efforts to match.…”