Incentives as a Driving Force for Scholarly Activity in General Surgery Training: Survey of Program Directors and our Institution’s Experience

Abstract

Introduction Scholarly activity in a few of the domains is required for both residents and faculty per Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education’s Common Program Requirements. Increased burden in clinical activities and economic changes in the health care environment have created new challenges, which have negatively affected faculty and residents to participate in scholarly activity. Various avenues are being sought which might help in improving the scholarly activity in an institution by providing dedicated time, salaried positions, grants, paid conferences, and financial incentives. Methods A survey was sent to program directors of surgery residency programs in 2020 to evaluate the impact of financial incentives on scholarly activity. Data was analyzed on SPSS 20, and descriptive statistics using frequencies and percentages were done. Results Out of 230 surveys sent, 80 (35%) program directors responded (35%). 52 (65%) of respondents were from university hospitals and 28 (35%) were from community hospitals. Both the faculty and residents were required to publish in 56 (70%) of the institutions surveyed. 59 (73.7%) considered a PubMed publication as a scholarly activity. Only 9 (11%) programs were supportive of residents being involved in research activities that had a designated rotation. 48 (60%) respondents stated that residents and faculty would be more likely to pursue research endeavors if they were provided some form of financial incentive, but only 9 (11%) had some sort of incentive program in place. Conclusion Given the results of the survey, there is a need to seek uniform, acceptable, and sustainable alternative incentive programs to help promote and increase the scholarly activity of residents and faculty.