Early publications in academic journals are associated with greater professional success, researchers from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) found. A study conducted by the team found that medical students who published their final papers within two years of graduation went on to achieve higher academic and medical success. They also reached management positions.
Male graduates had a higher publication rate than female graduates, the researchers found.
The study, published in March in BMC Medical Education, collected data on 556 physicians who graduated from BGU's medical school some 15 to 20 years after their graduation to analyze publication rates for graduates based on various gender and professional characteristics.
As part of the seven-year medical qualification program in Israel, students must conduct a research study, clinical or lab-based, in order to earn their degree. Some students attempt to then publish their thesis in an academic journal.
The study found that male students published significantly more articles than female students. Additionally, male doctors made up over 58% of early publishers and held more managerial positions.
Over 90% of the women who held managerial positions later in life had similar rates of publishing academic articles to the rates of men.
This led researchers to call for the need to identify challenges to early publishing among female students and create programs to promote studies to incorporate female students. Researchers urged academic institutions to allocate resources to this cause.
"Sadly, like many others before it, this study exhibits a delay in the success rates of publishing and career advancement for women," said Dr. Limor Yamit Tabo, one of the researchers who led the study.
"We are seeing a gap in male and female medical school graduates and we need to identify the challenges creating this gap and address them," said Dr. Lior Nesher, another researcher who led the study. “There is no doubt that there is a strong connection between research and medicine.”
The Hebrew University in Jerusalem has been implementing different programs designed to encourage medical students towards research, including a fast-tracked MD-PhD program, and a degree combining medicine with computer sciences. The Technion medical school offers similar programs.
It is important to note that the Ben Gurion study examined data regarding graduates who finished their studies before 2003. In the past 10 years, the Council for Higher education has seen a rise in female students in the academy in general and in science and medical professions specifically.In 2020, almost 60% of the students starting a medical degree were women.