Predictive Factor of Preresidency Publication on Career Academic Achievement in Urologists.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Publications at any point in training can impact future academic interest and achievement. Implications of publishing scholarly work prior to residency on accomplishments during and after residency are understudied. METHODS: We obtained publication output before, during and after residency for urologists graduating between 2002 and 2008 from the 36 training programs affiliated with a top 50 urology hospital nationwide. Additional collected information included fellowship training, current appointment, total and R01 National Institutes of Health grants, and h-index. We compared urologists' preresidency scholarship with residency and career achievements. RESULTS: We retrieved data from 543 urologists, of whom 161 (29.7%) and 92 (16.9%) published 1 or more total and first author manuscripts before residency, respectively. A total of 269 (49.5%) urologists went on to pursue fellowship and 183 (33.7%) entered academic practice. Urologists with a first author publication before residency had increased odds of entering academics (OR 1.9, 95% CI 1.2-3.1), obtaining National Institutes of Health grants (OR 2.2, 95% CI 1.1-4.3) and acquiring National Institutes of Health R01 grants (OR 4.1, 95% CI 1.7-9.7). Those with more first author manuscripts prior to residency were also more likely to pursue fellowship (p=0.0002), have a higher h-index (p <0.0001) and publish more during (p <0.0001) and after residency (p=0.0002). However, those with more total publications before residency were only associated with greater h-index (p=0.002) and publications in residency (p=0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Preresidency scholarly endeavors, particularly first author publications, are associated with future scholarly achievement, which may inform both resident selection procedures and medical education curricular development.