Research Publication Experience as a Requirement for Board Examination Acceptance to Promote Scholarly Activities of Pediatric Residents

INTRODUCTION: Scholarship is an essential component of postgraduate education. This study’s objective was to investigate the effect of a new reform requiring research publication experience before taking the pediatric board examination to promote scholarly activities among pediatric residents in Japan. METHODS: We conducted an experimental study from 2015 to 2018 to investigate the effectiveness of this reform for promoting scholarly activities among Japanese pediatric residents. RESULTS: Of all 2524 participants, the number of examinees before and after the reform was 1580 and 944, respectively. The yearly number of the residents’ presentations and publications during their residency was 1.2 (SD 0.9) and 0.06 (SD 0.16), respectively, before the reform and 1.3 (SD 1.0) and 0.21 (SD 0.18), respectively, after the reform. Multiple regression showed the post-reform examinees (β = 0.37, p < 0.01) and the number of research presentations (β = 0.28, p < 0.01) were significantly associated with the number of research publications during the residency. While no contributive variables were found in the institution types, residents in the Kyushu and Okinawa area (i.e., southern island area in Japan) published fewer articles than those in the Tokyo area (β = −0.05, p = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS: The newly implemented policy requiring residents to publish research articles as a board examination prerequisite effectively promotes research activities among pediatric residents.