Research during Internal Medicine Residency Training: Meeting the Challenge of the Residency Review Committee

Currently, 26 Residency Review Committees are responsible for establishing the special requirements of graduate medical education training programs and for monitoring compliance with these minimum standards. The program requirements of each Residency Review Committee include the following statement, with minor variations, which emphasizes the value of “scholarly activity” during residency training:

Graduate medical education must take place in an environment of inquiry and scholarship in which residents participate in the development of new knowledge, learn to evaluate research findings, and develop habits of inquiry as a continuing professional responsibility.

The responsibility for establishing and maintaining an environment of inquiry and scholarship rests with the teaching staff … The staff as a whole must demonstrate broad involvement in scholarly activity. This activity should include active participation … in clinical discussions, rounds, and conferences in a manner that promotes a spirit of inquiry and scholarship … in journal clubs and research conferences … in regional or national scientific societies … in research … and offering of guidance and technical support for resident participation in research [and] … scholarly activities [1].

Going beyond this common emphasis on faculty scholarship, seven Residency Review Committees (those for Colon and Rectal Surgery, Emergency Medicine, Family Medicine, Pathology, Psychiatry, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and Urologic Surgery) encourage resident research during the core residency program [1-6]. Three Residency Review Committees (those for Internal Medicine, Orthopedic Surgery, and Urologic Surgery) now mandate that all core residents participate in research or other scholarly activities. Specifically, as of July 1994, the new Internal Medicine special requirements state:

Prior to the completion of training, each resident must demonstrate some form of acceptable scholarly activity. Scholarly activity may include original research, comprehensive case reports, or review of assigned clinical and research topics [1].

Within internal medicine, the …