Impact of a dedicated scholarly research program on an adult and pediatric neurology residency program (S3.008)

Objective: To describe and assess the effectiveness of a formal scholarly activities program for an adult and pediatric neurology residency program. Background: The ACGME requires scholarly activity for all residents but implement and assessment studies are needed to properly gauge the success of these initiatives. Methods: Starting in 2011, all graduating residents were required to complete at least one form of scholarly activity broadly defined to include peer reviewed publications and/or presentations at scientific meetings of formal mentored research projects. The scholarly activity program was administered by the associate residency-training director and included an expanded journal club, guided mentorship, a required grand rounds platform presentation, and annual awards for the most scholarly and seminal research findings. We hypothesized that scholarly output and mentorship for residents graduating in 2011-2015 (post-program) would exceed that of graduates in 2005-2009 (pre-program). Results: Scholarship participation increased from the pre-program baseline (24/53, 45.3[percnt]) to the post-program period (46/56, 82.1[percnt], p<0.0001). Total scholarly output more than doubled from 43 activities pre-program (0.92/resident) to 111 post-program (2.38/resident, p=0.0003). The mean activities per resident increased for published abstracts (0.15±0.41 to 1.23±1.39, p<0.0001), manuscripts (0.75±1.37 to 0.98±1.38, p=0.39) and book chapters (0.02±0.14 to 0.18±0.61, p=0.06). Proportions of resident participation increased for case reports (20.8[percnt] vs 66.1[percnt], p<0.0001) and clinical research (17.0[percnt] vs 37.5[percnt], p=0.017) but were similar for laboratory research and topic reviews. Rates of residents as first authors increased but not significantly (72.1[percnt] vs 81.1[percnt], p=0.22). Individual faculty mentors increased from 36 pre-program to 44 post-program. Conclusions: Our multifaceted program, designed to encourage resident and faculty engagement in scholarship, was associated with increased scholarly output and an expanded mentorship pool. The program was particularly effective at encouraging presentations at scientific meetings. Longitudinal analysis will determine whether such a program portfolio inspires an increase in academic careers involving research. Disclosure: Dr. Robbins has received personal compensation for activities with Medlink and Prova Education. Dr. Haut has received personal compensation for activities with Acorda, Upsher Smith, Neurelis as a consultant. Dr. Lipton has received personal compensation for activities with Allergan, American Headache Society, Autonomic Technologies, Boston Scientific, Bristol Myers Squibb, Cognimed, Colucid, Eli-Lilly, eNeura Therapeutics, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer, Teva, and V Dr. Milstein has nothing to disclose. Dr. Ocava has nothing to disclose. Dr. Ballaban-Gil has nothing to disclose. Dr. Moshe has received research support from UCB Pharma. Dr. Mehler has nothing to disclose.