1602 - Research learning delivery in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation residency: A cohort study

Evaluate research knowledge improvements with virtual and in-person delivery and residents’ baseline research knowledge based on their medical education.

Design:

This was a two-arm, non-parallel, prospective cohort study. The two arms were: Virtual format (n=21) and In-person format (n=24). Both groups participated in the Research Educational Block, which is mandatory for all PM&R residents in our department. The Research Education Block consisted of four sessions, each session being themed and consisting of 3-4 lectures for a total of 13 lectures. A paired Student’s t-test  and ANOVAs were used to answer our aims.

Results:

Study participants (n=45) were 42% post-graduate year (PGY) 2, 45% PGY3 and 13% PGY4 PM&R residents. Their mean age was 31 ± 2 years, 59% were men, 38% Hispanic, 33% Caucasian/White, 16% Asian, and 13% African American/Black. The overall residents’ research knowledge significantly improved from pre- to post-intervention (+13%, p=˂0.01). The same improvement was significant for Virtual format (+15%, p=0.03) and In-person format (+12%, p<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Aptos;">≤0.01) but not significantly different when comparing the two formats (p=0.33). No differences in pre-post research knowledge improvements were observed based on sex (p=0.24) and residency years (p=0.29). The overall residents’ baseline research knowledge was not dependent on the research ranking of the medical schools from which the residents graduated (all p values ˃0.05). Additionally, nineteen residents (90%) in the Virtual format completed the satisfaction survey and 90% of respondents were “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with the educational block.

Conclusions:

Baseline research knowledge did not differ by medical school background, and improvements in research knowledge did not differ by delivery method or PGY level.