Indicators of early research productivity among primary care fellows.
OBJECTIVE
Little is known about the impact of fellowship training in primary care on subsequent research productivity. Our goal was to identify characteristics of research fellows and their training associated with subsequent publications and research funding.


METHODS
Mail survey in 1998.


METHODS
1988-1997 graduates of 25 National Research Service Award primary care research fellowships in the United States.


METHODS
1) Publishing 1 or more papers per year since the beginning of fellowship, or 2) serving as principal investigator (PI) on a federal or non-federal grant.


RESULTS
One hundred forty-six of two hundred fifteen program graduates (68%) completed the survey. The median age was 38 years, and 51% were male. Thirty-two percent had published 1 or more papers per year, and 44% were PIs. Male gender (odds ratio [OR], 3.6; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 1.4 to 9.2), self-reported allocation of 40% or more of fellowship time to research (OR, 4.4; 95% CI, 1.8 to 11.2), and having an influential mentor during fellowship (OR, 5.0; 95% CI, 1.5 to 17.2) were independently associated with publishing 1 or more papers per year. Fellows with funding as a PI were also more likely to have an influential mentor (OR, 3.0; 95% CI, 1.3 to 7.2).


CONCLUSIONS
Primary care fellows who had influential mentors were more productive in research early after fellowship. Awareness of the indicators of early research success can inform the policies of agencies that fund research training and the curricula of training programs themselves.
Steiner
John F
JF
Division of General Internal Medicine, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver, Colo, USA. john.steiner@uchsc.edu
Lanphear
Bruce P
BP
Curtis
Peter
P
Vu
Kieu O
KO
D005194:Family Practice; D005257:Fellowships and Scholarships; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007388:Internal Medicine; D008297:Male; D008611:Mentors; D008875:Middle Aged; D010372:Pediatrics; D011643:Publishing; D012106:Research / Q000706:statistics & numerical data