A resident research director can improve internal medicine resident research productivity

Background: Resident participation in research projects is felt to be an important component of internal medicine residency training, and accreditation organizations require that residency programs show that their residents and faculty participate in scholarly activity. Purpose: To determine the impact of a Resident Research Director (RRD) on scholarly productivity of our internal medicine residents. Methods: We reviewed the number of presentations and publications of all residents from our institution over a 10-year study period (1992-2001). We used a historical control, comparing resident presentations and publications 5 years before (1992-1996) and after (1997-2001) implementation of the RRD position. We compared cohorts in terms of number of individuals in Alpha Omega Alpha and the number of individuals coming from a top 50 medical school as baseline measurements. We also compared these cohorts in regards to faculty to learner ratio, percentage of residents applying for fellowship, and American board of Internal Medicine Certifying Examination performance. The Mann-Whitney U test was used for statistical inferences. Eighty-nine residents trained at our institution during the study period. Results: There was a significant increase in the number of regional and national presentations as well as publications after instituting the RRD position. Conclusion: Our analysis suggests that an RRD can enhance resident scholarly productivity.