The Impact of Research Productivity During Medical School and Continued Productivity in Plastic Surgery Residency.

Introduction: Research is an important component of medical student applications to plastic surgery residency. However, little is known about institution-level factors that may influence research productivity among plastic surgery applicants and how productivity during medical school impacts research output during residency.

Methods: Plastic surgeons who graduated from an integrated plastic surgery residency program in the United States and obtained board certification between 2020 and 2022 were included in the study. Website profiles were used to obtain medical school and residency training information, and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) iCite database was utilized to identify publications during medical school and residency training. Linear regression was performed to assess the correlation between research productivity during medical school and residency. Unpaired t tests were performed to compare the mean number of publications between medical students.

Results: A total of 277 plastic surgeons were included in the analysis. The mean number of publications during medical school and residency was 3 and 8.7, respectively. The number of first-author publications during medical school had the strongest correlation with total research output during residency (r 2 = 0.23, P < .0001). Students at schools with plastic surgery residency programs (3.29 vs 1.56, P < .0001) and students from top 40 NIH-funded medical schools (4.44 vs 1.84, P < .0001) had significantly more publications than their peers.

Conclusion: First-author publications during medical school may be the strongest predictor of productivity during residency. Students at schools without affiliated plastic surgery residency programs may have fewer opportunities to participate in scholarly activity.