Barriers and Attitudes to Research Among Residents in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery: A National Multicenter Cross-Sectional Study

Objective: Research sets the foundation for developing plastic surgeons who think critically and approach clinical practice with an inquisitive mind. The objective of this study was to characterize current attitudes and perceived barriers towards conducting research during residency.

Design: A validated 36-item questionnaire was developed by a national task-force of Canadian plastic surgery trainees. The survey was distributed to all 13 plastic surgery programs in Canada. Data was collected for a period of 2 months in the form of multiple choice, Likert scales and short answers.

Results: The response rate was 64% (95/149) with representation from all 13 plastic surgery programs across Canada. The top three perceived barriers to conducting research were lack of time (83%), insufficient access to research supervisors and mentors (42%) and the research ethics process (38%). More than 70% of residents were interested in conducting research during residency and 74% of programs have a research requirement integrated into their curriculum. Despite this, less than half of residents (47%) believed that their program fosters a culture that promotes research. This was attributed to multiple factors, including a lack of internal research funding (78%), limited access to a research methods or clinical trials unit (78%), and insufficient research training (68%). University research ranking had no correlation with residents' scholarly output or their perceptions towards research barriers.

Conclusion: Canadian Plastic Surgery residents identified several important factors considered to be barriers to research. Programs can use these findings to address barriers and improve the integration of research throughout residency training.