Factors associated with citation of internal medicine residency programs for lack of scholarly activity

Background: The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education requires that residents demonstrate scholarly activity prior to completion of training. Purpose: To determine which factors are associated with program citation for failure to comply with the Residency Review Committee (RRC) scholarly activity requirement for internal medicine residencies. Methods: All 391 internal medicine residency program directors were surveyed in March 2002. Data were collected on program characteristics and factors (research curriculum, research director, faculty mentors, protected time for research, funding, and presence of a mandatory research requirement) that have been associated with successful resident research. Multiple logistic regression analysis identified factors associated with citation. Results: The response rate was 78%. Ten percent of respondents report having been cited for lack of demonstration of scholarly activity. Factors that reduced the odds of citation were being a university-based program, odds ratio (OR) 0.13, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.03-0.54, p = .005; having a greater number of residents, OR 0.95, 95% CI 0.93-0.98, p = .001; and having funding to support resident scholarship, OR 0.39, 95% CI 0.17-0.91, p = .03. Using multiple logistic regression analysis, having designated funding for resident scholarship was the only factor independently associated with a decreased odds of citation, OR 0.27, 95% CI 0.10-0.72, p = .009. Conclusions: To improve compliance with the RRC requirement for scholarly activity and avoid citation, residency programs may wish to consider devoting more resources, particularly money, to support resident scholarly activity.