A Dedicated Quarterly Research Meeting Increases Resident Research Productivity

Background: Research is a vital component of a plastic surgery residency. Residents participating in research are better able to critically evaluate literature, allowing them to stay current throughout their careers. Programs benefit from increased research by increasing their academic reputation and attracting stronger applicants. To discuss ongoing research projects, foster collaboration, and encourage resident involvement, a quarterly research meeting was implemented within our division. We report the effectiveness of a dedicated division-wide quarterly research meeting in increasing the academic productivity of plastic surgery residents. Materials and methods: Beginning in 2015, the Division of Plastic Surgery at our institution implemented a dedicated quarterly research meeting. Academic productivity was assessed by the number of publications in peer-reviewed journals, oral presentations at national meetings, and oral presentations at regional meetings. We examined the change in productivity before and after the implementation of the quarterly meeting. Unpaired t-test was used to compare temporal differences. A direct temporal comparison was made between the 3 y of data before the implementation of the quarterly meetings and the 2 y of data after implementation. Results: In the 2 y after the implementation of the research meeting, residents published significantly more often with an average of 2 peer-reviewed journal articles published per year per resident compared with 0.47 peer-reviewed publications in the 3 y before implementation (2 versus 0.47 publications per resident per year, P = 0.009). Residents were also more likely to present at national (0 versus 0.75 presentations per resident per year, P = 0.028) and regional meetings (0 versus 1 presentations per resident per year, P = 0.001). Conclusions: Implementation of a formal quarterly research meeting significantly improves resident research productivity. Residents demonstrated more publications and oral presentations. These results suggest that a more formal quarterly discussion of division-wide research can improve resident research productivity.