Rationale and Objectives
Radiology resident selection committees often favor candidates with strong academic potential. The aim of this study was to determine if preresidency academic productivity of current radiologists was predictive of subsequent of future academic performance.
Materials and Methods
The academic productivity of all radiology residents trained between 1975 and 2005 at the authors’ institution was assessed through identification of their publication histories, National Institutes of Health funding statuses, and Hirsch indexes ( h -indexes). These metrics were correlated with numbers of publications generated prior to beginning radiology residency and grouped accordingly (group 0, none prior to residency; group 1, one publication; and group 2, more than one publication). Academic productivity metrics of the different groups were compared using one-way analysis of variance and χ 2 analysis. Spearman’s ρ coefficient was used to evaluate correlations between the number of preresidency publications and subsequent productivity.
Results
A cohort of 269 residents was included in this study. Group 0 comprised 182 of the 269 residents (68%), while groups 1 and 2 comprised 27 (10%) and 60 (22%) residents, respectively. Rates of subsequent publication, mean h -index, and National Institutes of Health funding statuses were significantly higher in group 2 compared to both groups 0 and 1 ( P < .0001 for each metric). Preresidency publication volume was significantly correlated with future publication performance (ρ = 0.3977, P < .0001), mean h -index (ρ = 0.3086, P < .0001), and National Institutes of Health funding status (ρ = 0.4916, P < .0001).
Conclusions
Radiology residency candidates with multiple publications are more likely to achieve future academic success compared to candidates with one or zero publications.
Selection of the ideal resident candidate for a career in radiology is a challenging endeavor. Candidates must show evidence of sufficient intellectual capacity to assimilate the knowledge base of a very complex and technical field, yet academic performance in didactic and clinical rotations alone is but part of the set of metrics used to identify the most promising applicants. In addition to these academic metrics, publication and research conducted prior to matriculation into residency is viewed favorably by admission committees as a sign of commitment and genuine interest. However, the true predictive nature of previous productivity of residency applicants with respect to long-term academic productivity remains poorly characterized in the field of radiology. Previous efforts in other medical specialties to establish a correlation between preresidency academic productivity and long-term success have found little to substantiate this commonly held association . Accordingly, we sought to determine whether publication prior to matriculation is predictive of long-term academic productivity using data obtained from 30 years of radiology trainees from a large radiology training program.
Materials and methods
This retrospective study was approved by our institutional review board. Participants in our study included all graduates from the Mayo Clinic Department of Radiology residency program from 1975 to 2005. Former graduates, their current addresses, and places of employment were identified from departmental archives.
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Statistical Analysis
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Results
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Table 1
Academic Productivity of Radiologists, Sorted by Preresidency Productivity ( n = 269)
Preresidency Publications Mean h -index as to Subsequent Publications Mean Subsequent Publications National Institutes of Health Grants 0 (67.66%) 3.99 11.95 6 (3.3%) 1 (10.04%) 5.63 10.81 2 (7.41%) >1 (22.3%) 12.37 33.02 13 (21.67%)
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Discussion
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Conclusions
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