Clinical Pediatrics

Increasing numbers of medical students are participating in scholarly work, and taking research years, prior to their residency applications. This may be interpreted as an attempt to improve their skills in analyzing and contributing to scientific literature, however the most commonly cited reason is to increase chances of residency match success. This motivation, however, appears to be unfounded as a recent analysis of Canadian Pediatric residency programs revealed no association between the possession of publication, graduate degrees, or scientific presentations and match success. In addition, the possession of publications as a medical student is not associated with residency performance, both overall and within the scholar role. On the contrary, pediatric residents with publications prior to residency are more likely to publish as residents, and presumably, pursue academic careers. Accordingly, the importance of the widespread promotion or dismissal of academia within a specialty such as pediatrics remains unclear. The purpose of this presentation will be to review the latest literature pertaining to scholarly activities as a predictor of pediatric resident performance, and to engage the audience in a discussion about their usefulness and/or merits. In addition, the group will discuss potential strategies to convey these ideas to medical students, in order to promote a healthy, meaningful engagement in scholarly work prior to residency.