Preparing Pediatric Subspecialists to Lead Science and Medicine

The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education states that “residents should participate in scholarly activity.” In this issue of Pediatrics, Abramson et al¹ provide current data indicating that most pediatric fellows do not conduct scholarly activity, author a publication, or submit a grant application during their fellowships. Yet involvement in scholarly activity is considered a requirement for certification by the American Board of Pediatrics (ABP),² with a broad definition of how those requirements can be met. These findings confirm observations over several decades, providing an opportunity to address several crucial questions. (1) What are the goals of the requirement for scholarly activity? (2) Can “scholarly activity” be more broadly interpreted to meet public health and professional goals? (3) Are there implications for the duration of training programs?

The original goal of the requirement for performance of scholarly activity was preparation of subspecialists in pediatrics for success in academic medicine. Academic practice was by far the primary postfellowship activity of pediatric subspecialists nearly half a century ago, when the requirement was introduced.³ Concern that physician-scientists …

Address correspondence to Susan B. Shurin, MD. E-mail: sxs15{at}yahoo.com