Do medical interns publish findings of compulsory audit or research projects? Five-year experience from a single centre in New Zealand

INTRODUCTION: There is a paucity of literature on research output of Australasian interns. We have previously shown great interest among interns rotating in our department to publish or present their findings from an audit or research project (ARP). The aim of this study was to examine the output of the intern ARP. METHODS: ARP titles over a five-year period were searched in academic databases. We compared the output rate from our institution to a rate estimated a priori from previously published literature. RESULTS: A total of 186 ARPs were conducted over the study period. Of these, only two were published (one original article and one letter) and one was presented at a national conference. The observed productivity rate was significantly lower than that of the estimated rate (χ2 = 4.49, p = 0.034). CONCLUSION: Despite potential limitations, our study remains the largest study to report on intern research productivity in Australasia. It provides evidence of the need for improvement in and encouragement of research conducted by junior doctors.