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Paediatric cardiology fellowship training: effect of work-hour regulations on scholarly activity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2016

Christina Ronai*
Affiliation:
Department of Cardiology, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
Peter Lang
Affiliation:
Department of Cardiology, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
*
Correspondence to: C. Ronai, MD, MSEd, Department of Cardiology, Boston Children’s Hospital, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, United States of America. Tel: +617 355 9660; Fax: +617 739 6282; E-mail: Christina.ronai@cardio.chboston.org

Abstract

Background

In 2003, work-hour regulations were implemented by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. Much has been published regarding resident rest and quality of life as well as patient safety. There has been no examination on the effect of work-hour restrictions on academic productivity of fellows in training. Paediatric subspecialty fellows have a scholarly requirement mandated by the American Board of Pediatrics. We have examined the impact of work-hour restrictions on the scholarly productivity of paediatric cardiology fellows during their fellowship.

Methods

We conducted a literature search for all paediatric cardiology fellows between 1998 and 2007 at a single academic institution as first or senior authors on papers published during their 3-year fellowship and 3 years after completion of their categorical fellowship (n=63, 30 fellows before 2003 and 33 fellows after 2003). The numbers of first- or senior-author fellow publications before and after 2003 were compared. We also collected data on final paediatric cardiology subspecialty career choice.

Results

There was no difference in the number of fellow first-author publications before and after 2003. Before work-hour restrictions, the mean number of publications per fellow was 2.1 (±2.2), and after work-hour restrictions it was 2.0 (±1.8), (p=0.89). By subspecialty career choice, fellows who select electrophysiology, preventative cardiology, and heart failure always published within the 6-year time period.

Conclusions

Since the implementation of work-hour regulations, total number of fellow first-authored publications has not changed. The role of subspecialty choice may play a role in academic productivity of fellows in training.

Type
Original Articles
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2016 

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