Scholarly Output by Army General Surgery Residents

Abstract

Introduction: To characterize and compare the scholarly activity of applicants to Army First Year Graduate Medical Education (FYGME) general surgery positions over the course of a residency. Methods: All applicants for the 2011-2012 Army FYGME positions in general surgery were included. Applications were used to obtain demographics and peer-reviewed publications. Publications were verified using PubMed and Google Scholar. Applicants were tracked for acceptance to a FYGME position, graduation from a general surgery program, and future publications. Comparisons were made between selectees and non-selectees. Results: There were 46 applicants for 22 positions. Seven of the selectees (32%) had prior publications versus three non-selectees (12%; p < 0.109). Eighteen of the selectees went on to complete a general surgery residency by 2017. Of those who completed a general surgery residency, 16 (89%) have at least one publication with the mean number of publications of 4.0 versus 10 (43%), and of those not selected had at least one publication and the mean number of publications was 0.7 (p < 0.05). Conclusions: The majority of applications for general surgery residencies have no prior research publications. However, after 6 years, graduates of a general surgery residency have significantly published out those not selected for training.