A revised AMA position statement criticizes the rise of ‘CV buffing’ in clinical research.
The AMA has recently revised its Clinical Academic Pathways in Medicine position statement to address what it sees as an increase in poor-quality research and a culture of ‘CV buffing’ among early-career doctors.
“The problem we found was that a lot of colleges now make research a requirement for getting through training, and that can be seen as a great thing, because it means that people are getting exposed to research,” AMA chair for the Council of Doctors in Training Dr Sanjay Hettige told The Medical Republic.
“But the problem is, it’s very transactional.
“What our worry was, and what evidence showed from academics in this area, was that the quality of this research being produced was of very low quality.
“We want colleges to actually support people who are interested in research, producing high quality research, and having proper supports for that.”
Dr Hettige said massive bottlenecks in training were acting as a catalyst for poor quality research, with selection pressures for vocational training swaying students away from engaging more with research.
“People are trying to differentiate themselves in one way that the colleges have encouraged,” Dr Hettige told TMR.
“It’s because of an arms race that was created because of selection pressures, due to bottlenecks in the system, and that’s created this large body of research to produce [in order to] meet certain requirements.”
The AMA has pushed for medical schools to increase recruitment and retention of clinical academic staff and support a high-quality workforce.
The competitive nature of entry into vocational training has been cited as a negative influence on how medical students perceive clinical research in their careers.
This has led the AMA to reiterate its calls to develop sustainable training pathways, funding models and infrastructure to best support clinical academic practice.
The new position statement also pushes for the reframing of clinical academic medicine as flexible career path as a potential remedy.
RACGP quality care expert committee chair Professor Mark Morgan highlighted where the education system has room to improve.
“Doctors should be facilitated to engage in research at all stages of their careers but there is no need for this to be made compulsory,” Professor Morgan told TMR.
Related
“GP engagement in research is often stymied by the lack of infrastructure and paid time available to work with research teams.
“Many research teams find it difficult to engage GPs in research because they are unaware of the sheer volume of requests that GPs deal with on a weekly basis.”
Professor Morgan’s studies were cited in the AMA position statement in support of where poorly facilitated research fails to contribute to the collective understanding of the health sector.
