Assessment of Postgraduate Academic Productivity Following a Longitudinal Research Program in a Medical School Curriculum

Abstract

Early involvement and exposure to evidence-based research during medical school have been shown to play a formative role in students’ holistic development as future physicians. While there are medical schools encouraging research initiatives, few programs implement 4-year longitudinal research in the curriculum. Here, the authors categorized graduates as pre-LRP or post-LRP and utilized PubMed’s Advanced Search Builder to identify each graduate’s publications with a time frame that began from 1 year to 7 years post-graduation. The data were then analyzed to identify any significant changes between these two cohorts. A total of 1022 medical school graduates from an ACGME-accredited U.S. medical school were included in this study. The average rate of publications annually was 0.47 + 1.43 (pre-LRP) and 0.57 + 1.40 (post-LRP). Additionally, the average probability of at least one publication in a given year was 22% (95% CI: 0.21–0.23) pre-LRP and 27% (95% CI: 0.25–0.28) post-LRP. Lastly, the average probability of at least one first-author publication in a given year was 12.2% (95% CI: 0.12–0.13) pre-LRP and 15% (95% CI: 0.14–0.16) post-LRP. Overall, participation in a mentored longitudinal research program during medical school demonstrated a positive trend in the number and rate of publications. The implementation of a mentored longitudinal research program can contribute to increased research productivity in physicians’ early careers, leading to the development of important research skills, the fostering of commitment in scholarly work, and a deeper understanding of evidence-based medicine.