Publication trends in Family Medicine graduates: A cross-sectional review

Purpose: The ACGME emphasizes the importance of research throughout residency as it establishes the basis of evidence-based medicine. As future physicians practicing evidence-based medicine, it is crucial that physicians in training are able to both interpret and produce quality research. Currently, the long-term impact of active research participation is unknown in this population. In this study, we aim to (1) explore research activity as measured by peer-reviewed publications among family medicine residency graduates and (2) determine if an association exists between publication rates before, during, or after family medicine residency.Methods: We utilized a cross-sectional study design analyzing research output by family medicine residency graduates in relation to future publications and academic involvement from a random sample of 50 family medicine programs. Data were extracted for each graduate and analyzed using STATA 15.1 and Microsoft Excel. The public protocol can be found here: https://osf.io/pwa6d/.Results: We identified 654 residency programs of which we randomly sampled 50. Among the 50 programs, 8 were included, totaling 101 graduates from family medicine residencies for analysis. Of the 101 analyzed residents, 76 (75.2%) produced zero publications. Of the analyzed residents, 30 (29.7%) pursued a fellowship, with most in sports medicine (5/101 [5.0%]). The mean number of publications for all analyzed residents was 0.8, with most publishing after completion of residency.Conclusion: While a majority of family medicine graduate's publications were post-residency, the average number of publications was lowest during residency training. Increased research opportunity and activity during residency may increase the proportion of family medicine graduates pursuing fellowships and careers in academia, as well as increase resident comfort with both interpretation and utilization of evidence-based interventions in clinical practice