Competency-based medical education and scholarship: Creating an active academic culture during residency

Mentoring

Providing support and encouragement, especially by clinical supervisors, and identifying research mentors are crucial. The most important factors for promoting resident research are

 • Availability of experienced research mentors (e.g., lack of local mentoring is one of the most often cited arguments against requiring all residents to participate in research [18])

 • Developing collaborative relationships of programmes without qualified faculty with programmes where expertise is available

 • Strong local department proponent for research;

 • Programme director support

Education

 • Create a culture of inquiry that should begin early in residency when research interest is greatest [19]

 • Integrate research discussions into all educational forums

 • Resident physicians should be well versed in the principles of scholarship. This will enable producing scientific knowledge, critically evaluate the medical literature, and provide better quality care to patients

 • Offer forum to present projects; the venue is often a local research day, but present at any level of professional meeting as an opportunity to network, build confidence, and stimulate continuing engagement in research since many regional, national, and international conferences include spots for resident research to be presented

Experience

 • The educational experience is the most relevant part of the project

 • Recommend research projects that do not require grant support

 • Simple study designs are preferable for educational purposes; studies requiring less time, less resources, and less money are more likely to be completed; the population should be one regularly encountered by the resident

 • Collaboration with other residents or faculty will lessen the workload, spread the educational experience, and increase the chances of completion

Time

 • Dedicated time for faculty is crucial, so that faculty members involved in research act as role models and mentors to generate an atmosphere conducive to scholarship

 • Dedicated research time for residents has been deemed an indispensable factor in developing a productive resident research programme [20]

Support

 • Financial considerations are one of the most frequently cited barriers to implementing a research curriculum [20]

 • Statistical expertise, administrative assistance, editorial assistance, and technical support are important for the success of early career investigators