Staff Okinawa Nanbu Medical Center Haebaru-cho, Okinawa, Okinawa, Japan
Background: There is an identified need for research-trained physicians in clinical medicine. However, no clear scientific curriculum has been established in pediatric training programs, and residents are not always confident of their ability to write scientific publications and face various barriers. Objective: We developed and evaluated a short, intensive course designed to improve the ability of pediatric residents to write articles suitable for peer review. Design/Methods: The individual goals were broken down into 14 components that were considered necessary for writing a paper. The course lasts 2 months and includes class meetings in the form of lectures and case discussions using mock cases. Each lecture is approximately 30–60 minutes long and is conducted in a participatory format. Mentoring continues after the course is completed, with small milestones set for each resident. Items below are rated using a 5-point Likert scale: Self-assessment questionnaire to measure confidence in writing papers before and after each workshop; to measure confidence in achieving each individual goal; Satisfaction with the course; and 6-month observation to tabulate and evaluate the date that writing the manuscript was started, the submission date, and the acceptance date. All mean values were compared before and after the course using the Student’s t-test, and a significance level of p = 0.05 was used. Results: Thirty-one pediatric residents, all new to publishing, participated in the intensive course twice through October 2023, with a 6-month follow-up. Confidence in writing increased after each session, from a mean of 1.3 to 2.8, an improvement of 1.5 (95% CI, 0.5-2.6; p = 0.010). Confidence in achieving the 14 goals also increased. 30 of the 31 participants were very satisfied. Fifteen started writing manuscripts in an average of 54.5 days, eleven submitted papers in 112.5 days, and four were accepted in 166.0 days.
Conclusion(s): During the follow-up period, confidence in writing gradually increased, along with the increase in confidence in individual goals. This suggests that systematically addressing and removing barriers to writing, while building confidence, may be more effective than focusing solely on the technical aspects of writing.
