The resident scholar program: a research training opportunity for internal medicine house staff.
BACKGROUND
Housestaff research training is a challenging task that is complicated by the lack of a structured process and dedicated time. The Resident Scholar Program (RSP) at the University of Cincinnati, Department of Internal Medicine was created to overcome these challenges.


METHODS
Interested internal medicine house staff are required to submit an application to the residency research director including a project description signed by a faculty mentor. If the project is approved, a 4-month elective rotation is scheduled for the following year. Residents spend the first month on a consult service in the subspecialty area of their research and the remaining 3 months performing their research project. The RSP was launched in July 2003.


RESULTS
The percentage of residents participating in research more than tripled. The subspecialty areas represented by RSP research were more diverse than those represented in prior years. Most participants participated in clinical research projects (84%), with 63% of projects being prospective in design. The RSP residents were twice as likely to obtain subspecialty fellowship positions compared to non-RSP residents (89% vs 46%, respectively).


CONCLUSIONS
The RSP enables house staff to participate in research opportunities in their areas of interest. Development of a more systematic assessment method to study the impact of the program is underway, but the high participation rate reflects resident interest in such a program, particularly for residents with aspirations in pursuing fellowship training.
Byrnes
Abigail B
AB
University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. byrnesab@ucmail.uc.edu
McCormack
Francis X
FX
Diers
Tiffiny
T
Jazieh
Abdul-Rahman
AR
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002321:Career Choice; D005257:Fellowships and Scholarships; D006801:Humans; D007388:Internal Medicine / Q000193:education*; D007396:Internship and Residency; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States