First Author Research Productivity of United States Radiation Oncology Residents: 2002–2007

Purpose

Participation in investigative research is a required element of radiation oncology residency in the United States. Our purpose was to quantify the first author research productivity of recent U.S. radiation oncology residents during their residency training.

Methods and Materials

We performed a computer-based search of PubMed and a manual review of the proceedings of the annual meetings of the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology to identify all publications and presented abstracts with a radiation oncology resident as the first author between 2002 and 2007.

Results

Of 1,098 residents trained at 81 programs, 50% published ≥1 article (range, 0–9), and 53% presented ≥1 abstract (range, 0–3) at an American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology annual meeting. The national average was 1.01 articles published and 1.09 abstracts presented per resident during 4 years of training. Of 678 articles published, 82% represented original research and 18% were review articles. Residents contributed 15% of all abstracts at American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology annual meetings, and the resident contribution to orally presented abstracts increased from 12% to 21% during the study period. Individuals training at programs with >6 residents produced roughly twice as many articles and abstracts. Holman Research Pathway residents produced double the national average of articles and abstracts.

Conclusion

Although variability exists among individuals and among training programs, U.S. radiation oncology residents routinely participate in investigative research suitable for publication or presentation at a scientific meeting. These data provide national research benchmarks that can assist current and future radiation oncology residents and training programs in their self-assessment and research planning.

Graduate medical education, Radiation oncology residency, Resident training, Research, Publications