819 Pre-residency Research Output Amongst U.S. Neurological Surgery Residents

INTRODUCTION: Research productivity is often used in evaluating candidates for neurosurgery residency. Official Match data report successful candidates have on average ∼25 pre-residency research products; however, average number of indexed publications, the highest-valued research product, is not reported separate from other research products. METHODS: A list of all US neurosurgery residents who successfully matched between 2017-2021 was generated and narrowed to US MD seniors who applied to the authors’ institution. Each resident’s pre-residency publication quantity was extracted using Scopus. Additional variables were extracted from residency applications. RESULTS: 93.2% of all matched neurosurgery applicants from 2017 through 2021 were captured. Distribution of publication quantity was right skewed. Mean ± SD total, neuroscience-specific, and first-author pre-residency publications for applicants who matched in 2021 were 8.1 ± 10.0, 6.6 ± 8.7, and 2.3 ± 3.8 respectively. Median (IQR) total, neuroscience-specific, and first-author pre-residency publications were 5.0 (2.0, 11.0), 4.0 (1.5, 9.0), and 1.0 (0.0, 3.0) respectively. There was a statistically significant increase in average total, neuroscience-specific, and first-author publications from 2017 to 2021 (p < 0.001). Multivariable analysis demonstrated an independent, positive association between class year and publication quantity (1.07 (0.71-1.42), p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Indexed publications constitute a small portion of total research products successful neurosurgery candidates apply with. A high number of publications is not necessary to match with approximately 50% of all applicants who successfully matched having fewer than five publications and 25% having fewer than two. That said, average pre-residency publication quantity is increasing over time at a rate of approximately one publication per year.