Evaluation of Sports Medicine Fellowships in the United States Based on Academic Productivity

Institutional academic productivity remains an influential factor in an applicant's selection of fellowship training. This study aimed to determine the quality and quantity of research in the United States orthopaedic sports medicine fellowship programs and identify those with highest productivity. METHODS: The Arthroscopy Association of North America Fellowship Directory was used to evaluate 88 fellowships in the United States. Publication data and Hirschberg indices (h-index) were collected from the Scopus database. Subanalysis was performed based on the number of publications and mean h-index. RESULTS: Total number of publications per faculty member ranged from 0 to 866, with a median of 20. The median h-index per faculty member was 9. The number of fellows was correlated with a higher mean average h-index of faculty members (P = 0.05). The five programs with the highest number of publications included Hospital for Special Surgery, Rush University, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Mayo Clinic in Rochester, and Boston Children's Hospital. CONCLUSIONS: Most academic productivity in sports medicine is produced by a relatively small number of fellowship programs in the United States. Of interest, the number of fellows or faculty does not affect significantly the quality or quantity of research productivity at top institutions.