Research Training and Scholarly Activity during General Pediatric Residency in Canada.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the characteristics of research training and scholarly activity during pediatrics residency in Canada and identify facilitators and barriers to resident scholarly activity. STUDY DESIGN: We conducted a mixed-methods, cross-sectional survey of pediatrics residents in Canada from April to June 2023. Trainees and medical education experts developed the 55-item survey, pilot tested, and distributed electronically to residents in all 17 Canadian residency programs. Responses were complemented with program-level data from pediatrics residency program directors. RESULTS: Of 644 Canadian pediatrics residents, 230 (36%) responded. Resident respondents conducted various types of scholarly projects, including retrospective clinical study (22%), qualitative research (15%), quality improvement (13%), and medical education research (12%). Discordance between the field of career interests and primary scholarly projects was common. Among respondents, 20% had abstracts accepted at national or international conferences, and 12% had manuscripts submitted to peer-reviewed journals. Resident respondents' self-perceived progress in their scholarly projects were discrepant from their actual progress. Key themes related to barriers and facilitators to scholarly activity included protected time for research, mentorship, and research skills training. CONCLUSIONS: The research training and scholarly activity of pediatrics residents in Canada is variable. Establishing national standards, implementing progress monitoring mechanisms with tailored support, and offering flexible protected research time are important next steps.

Reproductive health and pregnancy experiences of women with spina bifida: A qualitative study.

PURPOSE: Despite an increasing number of individuals with spina bifida reaching reproductive age, there has been a paucity of research into their reproductive health care needs. The objective of this study was to better understand the reproductive health experiences of self-identified women with spina bifida using qualitative methodology. METHODS: A phenomenological study design was used to address this objective. Women with spina bifida identified their interest in participating in a semi-structured interview after completing an online reproductive health survey. Interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Qualitative analysis followed a phenomenological approach using Dedoose software. RESULTS: Twelve self-identified women with spina bifida participated. They described experiences in four domains: sexual education, pregnancy, labor and delivery, and postpartum. In addition, an intersecting domain of social justice and advocacy emerged. Numerous themes are described, including a lack of tailored sexual health information, impact of pregnancy on function, attitudes towards delivery method, and parenting challenges. CONCLUSION: This study explored the continuum of reproductive health experiences of women with spina bifida. They face unique reproductive health challenges that provide an opportunity for health care providers to offer more holistic care.