Cultural Influences Catalyzing Resident Scholarly Productivity.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Scholarly activity is a core requirement set by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). A previous study documented a significant 302% increase in scholarly activity at Eglin Family Medicine Residency after implementation of a standard set of interventions from 2016 to 2019. Few researchers have explained why such interventions to increase scholarly activity are effective. Prior work has suggested that many different interventions are helpful, but why? Our qualitative study took a multilevel approach to explain accompanying cultural factors and to determine how specific interventions led to the observed increases in quality and quantity of resident scholarship. METHODS: Taking a grounded theory qualitative approach, we interviewed a cross-section of high- and low-producing residents (12) and faculty (5) using a semistructured interview guide. Data analysis occurred concurrently with interviews. The team iterated the interview guide three times until core code saturation was achieved. Then axial coding occurred, and our team developed a grounded theory of scholarship cultural change. RESULTS: During the transformation period of 2016 to 2019, participants identified mentorship availability, interest/opportunity alignment, research mechanics demystification, leadership support affecting productivity, and scholarship begets scholarship as key factors that promulgated the culture change leading to increased scholarship productivity. No single factor led to increased scholarship. Collectively, they mutually reinforced one another. CONCLUSIONS: This explanatory inquiry developed into a multilevel model which suggests that the synergy of promoting elements drives increased scholarly productivity. Other residencies should consider fostering these combined elements instead of emphasizing only isolated individual elements to increase resident scholarship productivity.

Results of a Military Family Medicine Scholarly Activity Training Needs Assessment.

INTRODUCTION: Scholarly activity among family medicine physicians is an important element of military medical readiness, both in terms of required scholarship during training and ongoing scholarship to address ongoing and emergent operational medical threats. Most literature on barriers to scholarly activity are limited to training programs and lack an important element in overcoming barriers-their priority to physicians. This study seeks to address these gaps by identifying prioritized research training needs of military family medicine physicians at all levels of training and practice. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An institutional review board (IRB)-approved, cross-sectional, online survey was conducted from January 22, 2019, to February 7, 2020, using a modified version of the Hennessy-Hicks Training Needs Analysis Questionnaire. Respondents ranked their perceived level of skill and need for training for 20 literature-based elements of research success. They also self-identified research experience, level of training, and service membership. One-way analysis of variance to 95% CI was used to compare differences in self-reported research experience, number of peer-reviewed publications, number of external grants, and number of IRB protocols among services (Army, Navy, and Air Force), primary roles (resident, faculty, clinician, and leadership), and gender. Chi-squared tests were used to compare proportional differences, also to 95% CI. RESULTS: Of 124 respondents, most were members of the Air Force (46%), Navy (24%), or Army (13%), serving in clinician (40%) or faculty (32%) roles. Most respondents (67%) reported three or fewer publications and had never been a primary investigator or co-investigator on an external grant. Of the 34 respondents who identified as a faculty at some point in their career, 26 (77%) reported two or more peer-reviewed publications, and 20 (59%) had fewer than six publications. The faculty had significantly more research experience and peer-reviewed publications than residents, clinicians, or leaders (3.92 vs 2.19, 2.24, and 3.40, respectively, P < .001, η2 = 0.22; 5.11 vs 1.13, 2.12, and 4.33, respectively, P < .001, η2 = 0.25). Gender differences in priority ranking were found, but each gender identified the same top three training needs. Among the top 10 training needs for scholarly activity for military family medicine physicians, 7 may be addressed with specific training modules: (1) obtaining funding/grants for research, (2) accessing research resources (e.g., research administrators and other staff, information, equipment, money, and time), (3) establishing a relationship with research mentors, (4) undertaking health promotion studies, (5) designing a research study, (6) writing reports of your research studies, and (7) using technical equipment, including computer software, to find and organize published research or prepare manuscripts. CONCLUSIONS: Knowledge of military family medicine physicians' prioritized research training needs enables a focused approach to support an essential component of military medical readiness: primary care scholarship. Addressing these needs may begin with raising awareness of military primary care research network resources. Furthermore, a coordinated effort to develop specific training modules to address needs and ongoing research to identify, target training by audience need, and prioritize needs as they change over time are indicated to ensure that military family medicine physicians maintain and develop a flourishing culture of scholarly engagement.

Is exercise therapy effective treatment for low back pain?

Yes, it is somewhat effective. Exercise therapy-including general exercise, yoga, Pilates, and motor control exercise-has been shown to modestly decrease pain in chronic low back pain (LBP); levels of benefit in short- (≤ 3 months) and long- (≥ 1 year) term follow-up range from 4% to 15% improvement (strength of recommendation [SOR] A, based on a systematic review of randomized controlled trials [RCTs]).Exercise therapy may improve function and decrease work disability in subacute and chronic LBP, respectively (SOR A, based on a meta-analysis of RCTs). Exercise therapy has not been associated with improvement in acute LBP (SOR A, based on a meta-analysis of RCTs).

A Curriculum to Increase Resident Scholarly Activity.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Scholarly activity (SA) is an Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) requirement for family medicine residents. Engaging residents in scholarly activity can be challenging. Naval Hospital Jacksonville Family Medicine Residency (NHJ) pioneered a curriculum that led to a dramatic, sustained increase in resident SA. We sought to implement the curriculum in other family medicine residency programs. METHODS: The curriculum was implemented at two additional family medicine residencies. Three curricular interventions were identified: a 3-hour case report workshop, a written practical guide to scholarly activity, and a resident peer research leader. One program implemented all three elements. The other implemented the workshop and written guide, but did not identify a resident peer leader. SA was measured using the annual ACGME program director report and compared the intervention year to the previous 3 years of SA using a 2-sample test for equality of proportions with continuity correction. We used pre- and postintervention surveys to evaluate resident attitudes about SA. RESULTS: The program implementing all three interventions increased residents' conference presentation 302% (n=34, P<.001). The program that did not identify a resident peer leader had no significant change in SA as reported to the ACGME. CONCLUSIONS: The curriculum was implemented in two additional residencies with promising results. We recommend further implementation across multiple sites to determine the extent to which the results are generalizable.

Plan-Do-Study-Act Cycles Applied to a Longitudinal Research Protocol in a Family Medicine Residency.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Barriers to research in family medicine are common. Resident studies are at risk of remaining incomplete. This report describes a process improvement (PI) to optimize survey data collection in a longitudinal research protocol led by family medicine residents. The protocol subject to the process improvement sought to evaluate maternal outcomes in group prenatal care vs traditional care. In the months preceding the PI, the resident researchers noted many surveys were not completed in their intended timeframe or were missing, threatening study validity. We describe a practical case example of the use of a PI tool to resident-led research. METHODS: The residents applied three plan-do-study-act (PDSA) cycles over 8 months. Throughout the cycles, we solicited barriers and proposed solutions from the research team. Process measures included percentage of surveys completed within 2 weeks of the deadline ("on-time" response rate), and percentage of surveys completed overall. RESULTS: A secure, shared survey tracker was created and optimized during three PDSA cycles to calculate and track survey deadlines automatically upon enrollment in the study. Automated colored flags appeared for due or overdue surveys. On-time response rates did not improve. Overall response rates did improve meaningfully from 57% (19 of 33 eligible) to 84% (16 of 19 eligible). CONCLUSIONS: The PDSA cycles improved survey response rates in this research protocol. This intervention incurred no cost, was easily implemented, and was impactful. Other research teams can apply this PI tool to barriers in their research processes with minimal risk and cost.