Current Requirements and Attitudes Toward Research: A Survey-Based Analysis of Orthopedic Surgery Programs

Objective The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) guidelines require scholarly activity but do not specify what research-related activity is necessary to meet this requirement. The current components and opinions regarding research and its implementation that qualify as scholarly activity are unknown among US orthopedic surgery programs. We aimed to survey program directors of orthopedic surgery programs to evaluate and better understand the current state of research during training. Design A survey was sent to the program directors of all ACGME-accredited orthopedic surgery between 2019 and 2020 with questions evaluating each program’s research requirements and barriers to improvement. Results One-hundred eighteen (N=118) surveys were collected from 94 academic (79.6%) and 24 community (21.4%) programs. Although nearly all (97.5%) programs required research for graduation, only 45% of them allotted protected time: 52 academic programs (55.3%) allotted a median of nine weeks (interquartile range (IQR): 8-12 weeks) of dedicated time and 13 community programs (54.2%) allotted six weeks (IQR: 4-28 weeks) (p=0.595). We distinguished dedicated research as either consecutive weeks or a formal research track for a year. All programs indicated a desire for an increased focus on basic science compared to the current focus on outcomes-based research (p=0.04). The greatest identified obstacle to research improvement reported by community programs was faculty and resource commitment (p=0.003). The overall level of satisfaction with the current research experience among directors is 50.8%. Conclusion Despite differences between academic and community programs, directors agree on shifting the focus of research toward basic science. To improve preclinical research, additional time may be required, and individualized improvement plans should be undertaken at academic and community programs alike.