The impact of participation in a Research/Writing Group on scholarly pursuits by non-tenure track clinical faculty.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the success of a faculty Research/Writing Group (RWG) by quantifying the amount of scholarly productivity from participants in the group compared with that of a matched cohort.

EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITY AND SETTING

The RWG meets monthly to discuss current projects, providing an assessment of their scholarly activity. Participants offer ideas on improvement, resources and possible platforms for presentations and/or publications.

FINDINGS

To evaluate the success of this model, scholarly production from the participants in the RWG was compared to a matched group of clinical non-tenure track faculty not participating in the group over a three year period. Faculty perception of RWG participation was evaluated by data collected through a survey using Qualtrics.

SUMMARY

Participation in the RWG provided these junior faculty the support system to feel confident in their pursuit of scholarly activities; and therefore, they outpaced their counterparts in dissemination of their research.