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. 2016 Aug 22;4(3):E444-E447.
doi: 10.9778/cmajo.20160062. eCollection 2016 Jul-Sep.

Research projects in the Surgeon-Scientist and Clinician-Investigator programs at the University of Toronto (1987-2016): a cohort study

Neil M Goldenberg  1 , Benjamin E Steinberg  1 , James T Rutka  1 , Robert Chen  1 , Val Cabral  1 , Norman D Rosenblum  1 , Andras Kapus  1 , Warren L Lee  1
Affiliations

Research projects in the Surgeon-Scientist and Clinician-Investigator programs at the University of Toronto (1987-2016): a cohort study

Neil M Goldenberg et al. CMAJ Open. .

Abstract

Background: Physicians have traditionally been at the forefront of medical research, bringing clinical questions to the laboratory and returning with ideas for treatment. However, we have anecdotally observed a decline in the popularity of basic science research among trainees. We hypothesized that fewer resident physicians have been pursuing basic science research training over time.

Methods: We examined records from residents in the Surgeon-Scientist and Clinician-Investigator programs at the University of Toronto (1987-2016). Research by residents was categorized independently by 2 raters as basic science, clinical epidemiology or education-related based on the title of the project, the name of the supervisor and Pubmed searches. The study population was divided into quintiles of time, and the proportion pursuing basic science training in each quintile was calculated.

Results: Agreement between the raters was 100%; the categorization of the research topic remained unclear in 9 cases. The proportion of trainees pursuing basic science training dropped by 60% from 1987 to 2016 (p = 0.005).

Interpretation: Significantly fewer residents in the Surgeon-Scientist and Clinician-Investigator Programs at the University of Toronto are pursuing training in the basic sciences as compared with previous years.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Research projects from trainees in the Surgical Scientist Program (1987-1992) and Clinician Investigator Program (1993-2016) - both at the University of Toronto - were categorized by 2 independent raters as pertaining to basic science, epidemiology, or education. The proportion pertaining to basic science is depicted here. The absolute numbers of trainees are shown in Figure 2. Inset shows proportions for each year in the first and last quintiles with mean and standard deviation; p = 0.005 by 2-tailed t test.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Research projects from trainees in the Surgical Scientist Program (1987-1992) and Clinician Investigator Program (1993-2016) - both at the University of Toronto - were categorized by 2 independent raters as pertaining to basic science, epidemiology or education; 9 projects could not be categorized ("unclear"). Data are divided into quintiles of time.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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