BACKGROUND: TO provide clinical research experience in community hospital programs, we integrated research training with the daily work of surgical residency. METHODS: Teaching conferences and daily care of patients served as a source of projects. Emphasizing team work, high-yield projects are assigned to principal resident investigators, who lead a project team. Regular meetings with the faculty provides guidance and supervision, working to meet an abstract deadline. RESULTS: Over a 3-year period, 10 of 16 trainees participated in at least one project. Thirteen projects were presented at national meetings and 13 articles (including 6 from presentations) were published. Three projects were abandoned for lack of progress, and 5 manuscripts have been rejected. CONCLUSION: The integrated program trains multiple residents/projects with low requirements in space and funding, but high demands of organization and faculty time. Am J Surg. 1999;177: 83-85. (C) 1999 by Excerpta Medica, Inc.
