Impact of a Structured Roadmap, Individual Accountability and Support, and Outcome Measurement on the Culture of Scholarship in a Residency Program

Abstract

BACKGROUND Despite scholarly activity being an accreditation requirement for residency programs by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) since 2006, many family medicine programs have struggled to meet this requirement. A myriad of approaches and curricula have been proposed to enhance the scholarly output of residency programs. OBJECTIVES To determine the impact of a multimodal curricular intervention consisting of clear expectations, structured roadmap, availability of resources, and standardized accountability on the scholarly activity of residents. METHODS This is a quasi-experimental study with a retrospective data collection. The scholarly activities of residents completing training in the pre-intervention (2009-2012) and post-intervention period (2013-2017) were compared. Chi-square, Fisher's exact, Mann Whitney U, and Kruskal Wallis H tests were utilized to detect differences between the pre- and post-intervention groups. Multivariable Poisson regression models were used to detect independent predictors of per-resident scholarly activity. The institutional review board determined that the study was exempt from full review. RESULTS A total of 67 residents, 20 (30%) pre-intervention and 47 (70%) post-intervention, were included in the analysis. The number of total scholarly activities per resident increased significantly in the post-intervention period after adjusting for confounding factors (1.9 vs 6.4). The number of scholarly activities per resident also showed an increasing trend over time ( P = .04). Moreover, traditional scholarship, including published manuscripts (0.35 vs 2.43) and national-level presentations (0.35 vs 1.27) also increased in the post-intervention period. CONCLUSION Implementing this comprehensive curriculum increased the scholarly output of residents and helped enrich the scholarship culture in the residency program.