Learning to SuRRF: Sustained Engagement and Increased Academic Productivity Over Two Years of a Resident-Led Virtual Laboratory

Donna C Koo; Zhenni Xie; Lyudmyla Demyan; Colleen Nofi; John K Sadeghi; Jaclyn Morales; Dane Thompson; Vihas Patel

doi:10.1016/j.jsurg.2022.07.012

Learning to SuRRF: Sustained Engagement and Increased Academic Productivity Over Two Years of a Resident-Led Virtual Laboratory

J Surg Educ. 2022 Nov-Dec;79(6):e30-e37. doi: 10.1016/j.jsurg.2022.07.012. Epub 2022 Aug 4.

Authors

Donna C Koo¹, Zhenni Xie², Lyudmyla Demyan³, Colleen Nofi³, John K Sadeghi², Jaclyn Morales², Dane Thompson³, Vihas Patel⁴

Affiliations

¹ Northwell Health North Shore University Hospital, Long Island Jewish Medical Center, Department of Surgery, Office of Surgical Education, Manhasset, New York. Electronic address: donna.c.koo@gmail.com.
² Northwell Health North Shore University Hospital, Long Island Jewish Medical Center, Department of Surgery, Office of Surgical Education, Manhasset, New York.
³ Northwell Health North Shore University Hospital, Long Island Jewish Medical Center, Department of Surgery, Office of Surgical Education, Manhasset, New York; The Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research at Northwell Health, Manhasset, New York.
⁴ Northwell Health North Shore University Hospital, Long Island Jewish Medical Center, Department of Surgery, Office of Surgical Education, Manhasset, New York; The Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, Hempstead, New York.

PMID: 35933307
DOI: 10.1016/j.jsurg.2022.07.012

Abstract

Objective: To determine if implementation of a resident-led virtual laboratory can sustain increased engagement and academic productivity in residents and faculty.

Design: We developed and introduced a multimodal virtual Surgery Resident Research Forum (SuRRF) in July 2019. SuRRF utilizes monthly virtual lab meetings, weekly newsletters, a centralized database of projects, project tracking tools, and a shared calendar of deadlines to facilitate research among surgical residents. Data on number of participating residents, faculty, and projects across SuRRF meetings at 1-year (7/2020) and 2-years post-implementation (9/2021) were collected to evaluate engagement. Institutional ACGME Resident Scholarly Activity and Faculty Scholarly Activity reports were evaluated for the pre-SuRRF implementation (2018-2019) and post-implementation (2020-2021) academic years to assess productivity pre- and post-implementation.

Setting: Three tertiary academic hospitals of a single health system in New York.

Participants: All residents in our general surgery program during the study period, including research residents, were eligible to participate in our study.

Results: At 1-year, there were 2 attendings, 13 residents, and 23 projects, compared to 12 attendings, 25 residents, and 42 projects at 2-years post-implementation. Post-SuRRF implementation, residents had significantly more publications (0.56 ± 0.15 vs. 1.10 ± 0.15, p = 0.005), textbook chapters (0.00 vs. 0.010 ± 0.044, p = 0.014), research participation (p < 0.01), and scholarly activity (p = 0.02). Post-SuRRF, faculty had significantly more publications (0.74 ± 0.15 vs. 2.20 ± 0.33, p < 0.001) and scholarly activity (p = 0.006).

Conclusions: SuRRF promotes exposure to projects and resources and increases collaboration and peer-to-peer mentorship. Our experience with SuRRF suggests that resident-led virtual laboratories may increase peer-reviewed publications and improve resident and faculty engagement in scholarly activity, thus supporting academic growth.

Keywords: research forum; scholarly activity; surgical education; surgical residency; virtual laboratory.

MeSH terms

Databases, Factual
Humans
Laboratories*
Learning*
Organizations
Peer Group