The Badges Program: A Self-Directed Learning Guide for Residents for Conducting Research and a Successful Peer-Reviewed Publication

Introduction The Badges Program is a self-directed supplement to a program’s research curriculum. This step-by-step resource helps medical residents to understand the resources needed to conduct their own research project and fulfill the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education requirements for scholarly activity. Methods The curriculum is completed over varying amounts of time depending on the intricacy of scholastic activities. Simple case reports may take as little as 1–2 weeks whereas months to years may be required if residents are completing more intricate and elaborate projects. Associated materials include a guide organized by topic followed by sequentially completed task assignments demonstrating the user has gained a basic understanding of the corresponding objective. Upon completing a task, the user obtains its educational badge, a virtual certificate of completion the program can then track with a simple checklist for progress. Several supplementary online articles review core concepts or provide examples and web-based tutorials for becoming proficient with using reference software. No faculty training is necessary. Residents go through the steps necessary to perform research so as to gain familiarity with the process. Results Qualitative feedback obtained by informally surveying residents who have completed the Badges Program has been very positive, with residents reporting that the guide was easy to follow and the knowledge gained will help tremendously with future projects. Discussion We hope that with feedback, this resource will be expanded and refined so every resident will be able to use the Badges Program regardless of previous skills, experience, and publications.