Resident scholarly activity is correlated with in-training exam scores

Abstract

Robert P. Lennon, Kristian E. Sanchack, James W. Keck

Objective: To evaluate the correlation between medical resident scholarly activity (SA) and in-training exam scores (ITEs). Methods: We conducted a 5-year (2013–14 through 2017–18) retrospective comparison of resident ITE scores and their cumulative SA. Each resident’s final ITE score was compared to their cumulative SA. Residents who began and ended their residency within this period were also evaluated with a comparison of their cumulative SA to their post-graduate year 1 (PGY1) ITE score and their change in ITE score. Results: Forty-nine of fifty-one residents (96%) were evaluated. Twenty six of these were tracked from PGY1 through graduation. Spearman rank correlation shows a moderate positive correlation between SA and PGY1 ITE score (r = 0.43, p = 0.029), a weak positive correlation between SA and senior ITE score (r = 0.29, p = 0.046), and no correlation between SA and change in ITE score (r = −0.09, p = 0.660). Conclusion: Our results provide evidence that higher scoring students tend to perform more SA. This finding warrants further study to determine the nature of this correlation—in particular the extent to which effort to increase one may also increase the other.