Cross-sectional review of publication trends among OBGYN graduates

Abstract

Objective: Research and other scholarly activities are essential components to medical training and may predict (i) success for matching into residency or fellowship programs and (ii) a future in academia. Despite this importance, little is known about the research outputs of obstetrics and gynecology residency graduates. In this cross-sectional analysis, we explored the characteristics of published, peer-reviewed publications of obstetrics and gynecology residency graduates and publication rates before, during, and after residency.

Study Design: We employed a cross-sectional study design using a random sample of 50 obstetrics and gynecology residency programs found on the 2019-2020 Doximity residency navigator (Doximity Residency Navigator). Data were extracted for each graduate of the included programs with a pilot-tested Google Form and then analyzed using STATA 15.1 and Microsoft Excel. A protocol is publicly available. Publication Trends Among Medical Resi...)

Results: We identified 281 residency programs, from which we randomly sampled 50. Among the 50 programs, 15 were included, totaling 303 obstetrics and gynecology residency graduates available for analysis. Of the 303 graduates, a total of 111 (36.6%) produced no publications, 137 (45.2%) produced 1-5 total publications, 28 (9.2%) produced 6-10 publications, 15 (5.0%) produced 11-15 publications, and 12 (4.0%) produced 16-20 publications. Of the graduates we analyzed, 79 (79/303, 26.1%) pursued fellowships, with most in maternal and fetal medicine (23/79, 29.1%). Academia was pursued by 46/303 (15.2%) of graduates. The mean number of publications per resident was 2.9 (SD). Our results showed an increase of publications during the progression of training with a mean of 0.38 publications prior to residency, 0.8 during residency, and 1.75 after residency.

Conclusion: Our results showed that the majority of obstetrics and gynecology graduates do not go on to pursue a fellowship or career in academia. According to the ACGME, the average number of research experiences (poster or abstract presentations, publications, etc.) for matched residents as a whole was 3.3 while matched obstetrics and gynecology residents averaged 3.4 research experiences1. While matched obstetrics and gynecology residents only averaged slightly more research experiences than the average resident, publications throughout obstetrics and gynecology training trended upward as training progressed. The highest average of publications was seen post- residency, which suggests there may be an opportunity for residents to increase their scholastic activity while in training. We propose that one way to increase the scholarly activity while in training is to encourage collaborative research involvement between medical students, residents, and attending physicians. This joint effort will not only increase resident scholarly activity but will also facilitate teaching research principles to medical students early in medical training and provide opportunities for networking and knowledge sharing.