Tohoku J. Exp. Med., 2016 August, 239(4)

Having a Mentor or a Doctoral Degree Is Helpful for Mid-Career Physicians to Publish Papers in Peer-Reviewed Journals

SHINICHI TAKENOSHITA,¹ KYOKO NOMURA,¹ SACHIKO OHDE,² GAUTAM A. DESHPANDE,² HARUKA SAKAMOTO,² HONAMI YOSHIDA,³ KEVIN URAYAMA,² SEIJI BITO,⁴ YASUSHI ISHIDA,⁵ TAKURO SHIMBO,⁶ KUNIHIKO MATSUI,⁷ TSUGUYA FUKUI⁸ and OSAMU TAKAHASHI²

¹Department of Hygiene and Public Health, Teikyo University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
²Center for Clinical Epidemiology, St. Luke's International University, Tokyo, Japan
³National Institute of Public Health, Saitama, Japan
⁴Division of Clinical Epidemiology, National Tokyo Medical Center Clinical Research Center, Tokyo, Japan
⁵Department of Pediatrics, Ehime Prefectural Central Hospital, Tokyo, Japan
⁶Division of General Internal Medicine, Ohta Nishinouchi Hospital, Tokyo, Japan
⁷Division of General Internal Medicine, Kumamoto University, Tokyo, Japan
⁸Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, St. Luke's International Hospital, Tokyo, Japan

The evidence suggests that mentoring is one of useful teaching methods in academic medicine but it is not clear for which outcome mentoring is effective. In this study, the authors investigated the number of original research articles that the participants had published in peer-reviewed English-language journals (as a first or a corresponding author) within one year prior to investigation and what characteristics of the participants who published at least one paper would be like compared to those who did not. In March 2015, the authors recruit early- and mid-career Japanese physicians (238 men and 240 women; mean age 40.6 years old) in a web survey. In total, 23.9% of physicians had published at least one original research article as a first author, 10.0% had published as a corresponding author, and 23.4% had a research mentor. A multivariate logistic regression model adjusting for variables selected at p < 0.15 in univariable models showed that even after adjusting for their motivation levels for clinical research, physicians with a research mentor [odds ratio (OR) 6.68; 95% confidence interval (CI), 3.74-11.93], physicians who obtained DMSc, roughly equivalent to PhD in the West (OR, 2.17; 95% CI, 1.26-3.72), and physicians who worked at teaching hospitals (OR 6.39; 95% CI, 2.54-16.04) were more likely to publish an original paper in a peer-reviewed journal. Having a research mentor or DMSc is associated with an experience of successfully publishing original papers in peer-reviewed journals for young and mid-career physician-researchers.

keywords —— clinical research; epidemiology; medical education; mentoring; young and mid-career physician-researchers

© 2016 Tohoku University Medical Press

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Tohoku J. Exp. Med., 2016, 239, 325-331

Correspondence: Kyoko Nomura, Department of Hygiene and Public Health, Teikyo University School of Medicine, 2-11-1 Kaga, Itabashi, Tokyo 173-0003, Japan.

e-mail: kyoko@med.teikyo-u.ac.jp