Capacity lacking to strengthen scholarly activity for residents

I support the call for strengthened training in scholarly activity for residents in the article “Equipping family physicians to thrive. Scholarship as a core competency” by Piccinini-Vallis et al, published in the June 2025 special research issue of Canadian Family Physician.¹ For the moment, let us put aside an old debate around whether we should teach critical appraisal skills in postgraduate medical education.

The ability to understand and apply recommendations from trustworthy clinical practice guidelines, not critical appraisal, have been described as the “core skills of [the] medical curriculum.”² How are we doing in terms of achieving that educational outcome?

Annually, family medicine residents in Quebec can apply to a clinician scholar program. This is a third-year enhanced skills program, with 1- and 2-year tracks. The funded 1-year track offers a suite of courses in research methodology relevant to building a scholarly career. In 2021, a 2-year option was added. This track seeks to prepare residents for physician-scientist careers. To my knowledge, the only clinician scholar program to have been formally evaluated in Canada is the program at the University of British Columbia.³

Strengthening scholarly activity for all residents is no small ask. In the context of a 2-year residency, do we have the capacity to do this? Beyond role models to inspire and support residents in teaching units, we would need to carve out a curriculum within an overcrowded space.

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