Residents take the lead: A modern collaborative approach to research during residency

Abstract

Background: Participation in scholarship is a requirement for Internal Medicine (IM) residen-cies, but programs struggle to successfully integrate research into busy clinical schedules. In 2013, the IM residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital implemented the Housestaff Research Project (HRP)— a novel residency-wide research initiative designed to facilitate participation in scholarship. The HRP had two components—a formal research curriculum and an infrastructure that provided funding and mentorship for resident-led, housestaff wide projects. Methods: This is a mixed-methods study of 190 IM residents and two HRP-supported research projects. Seventy-seven residents responded to an electronic survey about their interests in research exposure in residency. Fifty-six residents responded to an electronic survey about their participation in the HRP. The success of HRP-supported projects was evaluated through resident comments, interviews with three residents leading the first two HRPs and a description of the success of the projects based on resident involvement and dissemination of the results. Results: Eighty-seven percent (n= 67/77) of residents were interested in additional research exposure during residency. Ninety-five percent (n = 53/56) of residents had heard of the HRP, and 77% had participate in at least one aspect of it. Approximately 20 residents were directly involved in the two resident-led projects. HRP-supported projects resulted in presentations at three local and three national conferences, one manuscript in press, and one manuscript in preparation. The resident project leaders felt that a strength and unique aspect of the HRP was the collaboration with co-residents. Conclusion: The HRP successfully created a culture of research and scholarship within the residency. The HRP leaders and residents that participated in HRP-supported projects expressed the most direct benefits from the program. All residents were exposed to research concepts and methods. Future directions for the HRP include selecting projects that max-imize the number of resident participants and integrating a more robust research curriculum.