Research productivity of first-year Canadian ophthalmology residents: a 12-year trend.

Objective: Research experience is one criterion of the selection process for applicants to residency training programs. We aim to quantify temporal trends in research productivity of medical students who matched into a canadian ophthalmology residency program.
Design: Retrospective database review.
Participants: A total of 465 residents commencing ophthalmology training from 2010 to 2022 in 15 Canadian ophthalmology residency programs.
Methods: The names of all residents commencing training in ophthalmology in all Canadian programs from 2010 to 2022 were identified. Bibliometric data including publication count and type, authorship position, and H-index corresponding to the match year were extracted from the Scopus database. Descriptive and univariate statistics were used to characterize and assess trends in research productivity.
Results: A total of 461 ophthalmology residents (99% complete data set) from all 15 residency programs representing 1179 publications, including 679 ophthalmology-related publications, were identified. Most publications were original research (676; 58%), followed by case reports and letters (324; 27%) and reviews (162; 14%). Overall, 62% of residents had at least 1 publication at the time of the match, with a mean of 2.56 ± 3.49 publications and a mean H-index of 1.03 ± 1.48 publications. There was a significant increase (p < 0.001) in all research productivity metrics except senior authorship in the period 2019-2022 compared with 2010-2018. Notably, 91% of residents had ≥1 publication in 2022 compared with 38% in 2010.
Conclusion: First-year ophthalmology resident publication productivity doubled from 2010-2016 to 2017-2022 suggesting a greater emphasis on scholarly work from medical trainees, a trend similar to that reported in other specialties.
Competing Interests: Footnotes and Disclosure The authors have no proprietary or commercial interest in any materials discussed in this article.
(Copyright © 2023 Canadian Ophthalmological Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)