Source: United States Navy
“This award is a huge accomplishment. It means that we are making scholarly activity more feasible and accessible,” said U.S. Navy Lieutenant Commander Joanne Gbenjo, staff physician and faculty research coordinator for the residency program.
The USAFP analyzes all research submitted to the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education from all Department of Defense residency training programs. This “Outstanding Achievement in Scholarly Activity Award” is given to the program with the most scholarly activity recorded in correlation to the number of residents for the past year. Scholarly activity is achieved through lectures, presentations, and quality and process improvement projects.
“Research gets our residents actively engaged and thinking through what they see presented to them,” explained U.S. Navy Captain Elizabeth Leonard, program director. “Residents learn critical thinking, instead of just using medication or a diagnostic tool.”
Scholarly activity from NMCCL residents culminates in the annual Research Symposium which was recently held on April 7. The symposium featured 28 poster and eight podium presentations. According to Leonard, size of the symposium participation has doubled since its establishment, but staff members are eager for continued growth.
“My role as the faculty research coordinator is to facilitate and encourage interdepartmental research and scholarly activity within the residency. I work closely with the hospital’s Clinical Investigations Department to provide access, support and resources for those wishing to pursue research,” said Gbenjo. “Our residents are very motivated to learn and are expanding their curiosity in medicine through research; I’m excited to continue to expand and grow the program in the coming years.
NMCCL’s Family Residency program, which was established in 2003, has celebrated a 100% pass rate on the American Academy of Family Physicians board certification exams of all graduating residents each year since 2012. The program currently has 31 residents and is expected to graduate its next class in June of this year.