Getting Published in Medical Education: Overcoming Barriers to Scholarly Production

Medical education is experiencing rapid growth with an increasing number of publications and journals dedicated to education research.1,2 Several new journals and special education issues (including the CDEM/CORD supplement by the Western Journal of Emergency Medicine) have arisen in recent years to address this increasing interest. As clinician educators, it is important to produce and disseminate research both for promotion and development of a subject niche, as well as to disseminate findings for others to learn from novel and successful educational interventions. However, the quality of existing medical education research has been variable.3,4 Studies have suggested this may be due to limited mentorship,5 as well as challenges including available time, funding, small sample sizes, ability to navigate the institutional review board process, and difficulty with defining relevant and measurable outcomes.6,7 This article discusses five common challenges to education scholarship and provides suggestions for overcoming them.