The Role of Residency Accreditation Program Requirements on Scholarly Activity in Family Medicine

Grant S. Hoekzema; Warren Newton

doi:10.3122/jabfm.2024.240004R1

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Figure 1.
Select scholarship trends in FM residencies 2016 to 2021.
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Figure 2.
RCFM program citations for scholarship by academic year.

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Table 1.

Summary of FM Scholarly Activity Program Requirements from 2001–2023: (Major Changes from Prior Requirements Highlighted by Authors)

2001

Faculty Research and Scholarly Activity

While not all members of a teaching staff must be investigators, the staff as a whole must demonstrate broad involvement in scholarly activity. This activity should include:

1.Active participation in clinical discussions, rounds, and conferences in a manner that promotes a spirit of inquiry and scholarship.

2. Active participation in regional or national professional and scientific societies, particularly through presentations at the organizations’ meetings and publications in their journals.

3. Participation in research, particularly in projects that are funded following peer review and/or result in publications or presentations at regional and national scientific meetings.

4. Provision of guidance and technical support (e.g., research design, statistical analysis) to residents involved in research.

Resident Research and Scholarly Activity

Each program must provide opportunity for residents to participate in research or other scholarly activities. Instruction in the critical evaluation of medical literature, including assessing study validity and the applicability of studies to the residents’ patients, must be provided…

2006

The responsibility for establishing and maintaining an environment of inquiry and scholarship rests with the faculty, and an active research component must be included in each program.

Scholarship is defined as the following:

a) The scholarship of discovery, as evidenced by peer-reviewed funding or by publication of original research in a peer reviewed journal;

b) The scholarship of dissemination, as evidenced by review articles or chapters in textbooks;

c)The scholarship of application, as evidenced by the publication or presentation of, for example, case reports or clinical series at local, regional, or national professional and scientific society meetings.

Complementary to the above scholarship is the regular participation of the teaching staff in clinical discussions, rounds, journal clubs, and research conferences in a manner that promotes a spirit of inquiry and scholarship; and the provision of support for residents’ participation, as appropriate, in scholarly activities.

Residents Scholarly Activities

Each program must provide an opportunity for residents to participate in research or other scholarly activities, and residents must participate actively in such scholarly activities…

2007 to 2011

The faculty must establish and maintain an environment of inquiry and scholarship with an active research component…

Some members of the faculty should also demonstrate scholarship by one or more of the following:

(1)peer-reviewed funding;

(2)publication of original research or review articles in peer-reviewed journals, or chapters in textbooks;

(3)publication or presentation of case reports or clinical series at local, regional, or national professional and scientific society meetings; or,

(4)participation in national committees or educational organizations.

c) Faculty should encourage and support residents in scholarly activities.

Residents’ Scholarly Activities

1.The curriculum must advance residents’ knowledge of the basic principles of research, including how research is conducted, evaluated, explained to patients, and applied to patient care.

2.Residents should participate in scholarly activity.

a) Each program must provide supervised experiences for all residents in scholarly activities such as research, presentations at national, regional, state, or local professional meetings, or presentation and/or publication of review articles and case presentations…

IV. B. 3. The sponsoring institution and program should allocate adequate educational resources to facilitate resident involvement in scholarly activities.

2013 to 2016:

II.B.5.The faculty must establish and maintain an environment of inquiry and scholarship with an active research component. (Core)

II.B.5.3a)The faculty must regularly participate in organized clinical discussions, rounds, journal clubs, and conferences. (Detail)

II.B.5.b)Some members of the faculty should also demonstrate scholarship by one or more of the following:

II.B.5.b).(1)peer-reviewed funding; (Detail)

II.B.5.b).(2)publication of original research or review articles in peer reviewed journals, or chapters in textbooks; (Detail)

II.B.5.b).(3)publication or presentation of case reports or clinical series at local, regional, or national professional and scientific society meetings; or, (Detail)

II.B.5.b).(4)participation in national committees or educational organizations. (Detail)

II.B.5. c)Faculty should encourage and support residents in scholarly activities. (Core)

2019 to 2023:

IV.D.Scholarship

IV.D.1.Program Responsibilities

IV.D.1.a)The program must demonstrate evidence of scholarly activities consistent with its mission(s) and aims. (Core)

IV.D.1.b)The program, in partnership with its Sponsoring Institution, must allocate adequate resources to facilitate resident and faculty involvement in scholarly activities. (Core)

IV.D.1.c)The program must advance residents’ knowledge and practice of the scholarly approach to evidence-based patient care. (Core)

IV.D.2.Faculty Scholarly Activity

Among their scholarly activity, programs must demonstrate accomplishments in at least three of the following domains: (Core)

• Research in basic science, education, translational science, patient care, or population health

• Peer-reviewed grants

• Quality improvement and/or patient safety initiatives

• Systematic reviews, meta-analyses, review articles, chapters in medical textbooks, or case reports

• Creation of curricula, evaluation tools, didactic educational activities, or electronic educational materials

• Contribution to professional committees, educational organizations, or editorial boards

• Innovations in education

IV.D.2.b) The program must demonstrate dissemination of scholarly activity within and external to the program by the following methods:

IV.D.2.b).(1) faculty participation in grand rounds, posters, workshops, quality improvement presentations, podium presentations, grant leadership, non-peer-reviewed print/electronic resources, articles or publications, book chapters, textbooks, webinars, service on professional committees, or serving as a journal reviewer, journal editorial board member, or editor; (Outcome)

IV.D.2.b).(2) peer-reviewed publication. (Outcome)

IV.D.3. Resident Scholarly Activity

IV.D.3.a) Residents must participate in scholarship. (Core)

IV.D.3.b) Residents should complete two scholarly activities, at least one of which should be a quality improvement project. (Detail)

IV.D.3.c) Residents should work in teams to complete scholarship, partnering with interdisciplinary colleagues, faculty members, and peers. (Detail)

IV.D.3.d) Residents should disseminate scholarly activity through presentation

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Table 2.

ACGME Web ADS Scholarship Domains

Research in Basic Science, Translational Science, Patient Care, or Population Health

Peer-reviewed Grants

Quality Improvement and/or patient safety Initiatives

Systematic reviews, meta-analysis, review articles, chapters in medical textbooks, or case reports

Creation of curricula, evaluation tools, didactic educational activities, or electronic educational materials

Contribution to professional committees, educational organizations, or editorial boards

Innovations in education

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Table 3.

Summary of Faculty Scholarship in FM Residencies by Academic Year

Academic Year	Number of FM Programs	Number of Faculty	PubMed Articles	Conference Presentations	Non PubMed Peer Reviewed/ Other Publications	Ratio of PMID/Programs	Ratio of PMID/Faculty	Ratio of Conf Present/Programs	Ratio of Conf Present/ Faculty
2016 to 2017	540	13861	505	4673	0	0.93	0.03	8.65	0.34
2017 to 2018	620	15959	535	5486	0	0.86	0.03	8.84	0.34
2018 to 2019	671	17855	2315	13476	3580	3.45	0.13	20.1	0.75
2019 to 2020	701	17936	2647	12473	4501	3.77	0.15	17.8	0.70
2020 to 2021	710	17546	3617	13842	5661	5.09	0.21	19.5	0.79