title: Relationship of a Second Professional Degree to Research Productivity of General Surgery Residents.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Many general surgery residents interrupt clinical training for research pursuits or advanced degrees during dedicated research time (DRT). We hypothesize that time required to obtain a second degree during DRT decreases resident publication productivity.
  
  
  METHODS
  All consecutive categorical general surgery residents at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, VA, graduating in 2007 to 2016 were evaluated. PubMed queries identified journal publications for residents during and after DRT, limited to 1 year postgraduation. DRT varied between 1 and 3 years and was standardized by dividing publication number by DRT plus remaining clinical years and 1 postgraduation year. Median publications were compared between residents by receipt of a second degree.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Thirty-six residents were eligible for analysis. Of these, 8 obtained a Master's in Clinical Research, 3 received Master of Public Health, and 1 completed a Doctorate of Philosophy. Publications ranged from 2 to 76 for degree residents and 1 to 36 for nondegree residents. For the 12 degree residents, median publication number per year was 3.8 (interquartile range: 2.3, 5.2) compared to 2.6 (interquartile range: 1.6, 3.5) in residents not pursuing a postdoctoral degree (p = 0.04). There was no significant difference in median number of first and second author publications by degree status.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  More publications per year were seen among residents earning a second degree, with a statistically significant difference between residents obtaining postdoctoral degrees during DRT compared with their counterparts. Our study demonstrates that residents pursuing a second degree are not hindered in their publication productivity despite the time investment required by the degree program. Additional research is needed to determine whether formal research training through a second degree corresponds to sustained scholarly productivity beyond residency.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia.
authors.forename: Puja M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Shah
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia.
authors.forename: Brandy L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Edwards
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia.
authors.forename: Zachary C
authors.initials: ZC
authors.lastname: Dietch
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia.
authors.forename: Robert G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Sawyer
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia. Electronic address: ats2x@virginia.edu.
authors.forename: Anneke T
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Schroen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000193:education*; D002983:Clinical Competence; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004503:Education, Medical, Graduate / Q000458:organization & administration*; D004526:Efficiency; D005260:Female; D013502:General Surgery / Q000193:education*; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency / Q000458:organization & administration*; D008297:Male; D011643:Publishing / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D014481:United States
keywords: Medical Knowledge; Systems-Based Practice; postgraduate degree; publication productivity; resident research; surgery