Scholarly productivity and growth of academic hospital medicine full professors.

BACKGROUND: Scholarship remains the principal currency for faculty promotion in academic medicine. Reference points for scholarly growth and productivity at academic medical centers (AMCs) are lacking. METHODS: We identified hospital medicine full professors (HMFPs) at AMCs ranked in research by US News & World Report. Scopus was used to identify each HMFP's publications, citations, and Hirsch-index (H-index). Publications; citations; and first, middle, and senior author papers were measured in 3-year intervals postresidency. Scholarly productivity was analyzed by quintile based on publications, AMC research ranking, years postresidency, and grant funding. RESULTS: Data were extracted for 128 HMFPs from 54 AMCs. HMFPs were a mean of 20.5 (SD: 5.4) years postresidency. The median H-index was 7.0 (interquartile range [IQR]: 2.0-16.0); the median number of publications was 15.0 (IQR: 4.0-51.0). Top quintile HMFPs had a median of 175.5 (IQR: 101.5-248.0) publications, whereas fifth quintile HMFPs had a median of 0.0 (IQR: 0.0-1.0) (p < .001). HMFPs on faculty at the top 20 AMCs had a median of 35.5 (IQR: 11.0-108.0) publications, whereas HMFPs in AMCs ranked 81-122 had a median of 3.0 (IQR: 1.0-9.0) (p < .001). Grant-funded HMFPs had a median of 177.0 (IQR: 71.0-278.0) publications, while nongrant-funded HMFPs had a median of 11.0 (IQR: 3.0-25.0) (p < .001). At 3, 6, and 9 years postresidency, HMFPs had a median of 0.0 (IQR: 0.0-1.0), 1.5 (IQR: 0.0-5.0), and 3.5 (IQR: 0.0-11.0) publications. Fellowship training, additional degrees, and top 25 residency programs correlated with the top half of scholarly productivity. CONCLUSIONS: Scholarly productivity among HMFPs varies considerably. At 3, 6, and 9 years postresidency, it is minimal to modest. Grant funding and AMC research rank may establish separate frames of reference for scholarly growth.

Scholarly Productivity and Rank in Academic Hospital Medicine.

Despite the rapid growth of academic hospital medicine, scholarly productivity remains poorly characterized. In this cross-sectional study, distribution of academic rank and scholarly output of academic hospital medicine faculty are described. We extracted data for 1,554 hospitalists on faculty at the top 25 internal medicine residency programs. Only 11.7% of faculty had reached associate (9.0%) or full professor (2.7%). The median number of publications was 0.0 (interquartile range [IQR], 0.0-4.0), with 51.4% without a single publication. Faculty 6 to 10 years post residency had a median of 1.0 (IQR, 0.0-4.0) publication, with 46.8% of these faculty without a publication. Among men, 54.3% had published at least one manuscript, compared to 42.7% of women (P < .0001). Predictors of promotion included H-index, number of years post residency graduation, completion of chief residency, and graduation from a top 25 medical school. Promotion remains uncommon in academic hospital medicine, which may be partially due to low rates of scholarly productivity.