BACKGROUND Scholarly activity training is a required component of pediatric pulmonology fellowship programs. However, there are no data on resources and barriers to training and factors associated with fellow productivity. METHODS We surveyed United States pediatric pulmonology fellowship program directors (FPDs) between March and October 2019. Our primary outcome was fellow productivity ( >75% of fellows in the past 5 years had a manuscript accepted in a peer-reviewed journal). Analyses included descriptive statistics, χ2 and Fisher's exact tests for categorical values, and t-test or Wilcoxon rank-sum test for numerical values. RESULTS 61% (33/54) FPDs completed the survey. 79% reported that most fellows completed clinical, basic science or translational research. However, only 21% reported that most fellows pursued research positions after graduation; academic clinical positions were more common. For 21%, lack of funding and competing clinical responsibilities were barriers to completing scholarly activity. Only 39% had highly productive programs; those FPDs were more likely to be highly satisfied with fellow scholarly activity products (p = 0.049) and have >6 publications in the previous 3 years (p = 0.03). 52% of FPDs believed that pediatric pulmonary training should be shortened to 2 years for those pursuing clinical or clinician-educator careers. CONCLUSIONS Barriers to scholarly activity training in pediatric pulmonology programs threaten the pipeline of academic pediatric pulmonologists and physician-investigators. Aligning fellow scholarly activity and clinical training with the skills required in their postgraduate positions could optimize utilization of limited resources and better support career development. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Scholarly Activity Training in Pediatric Pulmonology Fellowship Programs.