There is an incomplete understanding of the prevalence and characteristics of research-engaged physicians in the US. Most studies focus narrowly on physician-scientists, often defined as National Institutes of Health-funded physicians or physicians for whom research is their primary professional activity, capturing an essential, but incomplete, segment of this population. Using the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) 2022 National Sample Survey of Physicians (NSSP), this study offers a more complete understanding of the prevalence and characteristics of research-engaged physicians.

This cross-sectional study uses data from the 2022 NSSP, the second iteration of a national survey of practicing physicians in the US. The 2022 NSSP followed the University of Michigan Population Dynamics and Health Program strategy to recruit a sample of 5917 US-based physicians. Analytical weights based on American Medical Association data are applied to ensure results are nationally representative based on age group, specialty group, and gender (eTable in Supplement 1).

Respondents self-reported the percentage of their working time spent on research activities in a typical week; respondents who reported any time spent on research were considered research engaged. This study was reviewed by the AAMC institutional review board and received exemption because it does not constitute as human subjects research, as defined in 45 CFR 46. This project is a secondary analysis of deidentified data. This study followed the STROBE reporting guideline.

Physicians reporting research engagement were demographically reflective of the overall physician workforce. Among the analytical sample of 897 research-engaged physicians (Table 1), only 7.4% (95% CI, 5.0%-10.9%) were part of a racial or ethnic group considered underrepresented in medicine, whereas 62.2% (95% CI, 56.7%-67.4%) were White only, and 28.2% (95% CI, 23.4%-33.6%) were Asian only. Most research-engaged physicians (66.5%; 95% CI, 61.1%-71.4%) were cisgender men, whereas 33.4% (95% CI, 28.4%-38.7%) were cisgender women, and less than 1% identified as another gender (0.01%; 95% CI, 0.00%-0.04%). In this study, 14% (95% CI, 12.6%-15.5%) of all physicians self-reported research engagement (Table 2). However, most research-engaged physicians (83.6%; 95% CI, 79.2%-87.2%) dedicated 10% or less of their weekly hours to research, whereas 12.8% (95% CI, 9.6%-16.8%) spent between 11% and 50% of their time on research. Only 3.6% (95% CI, 2.1%-6.2%) spent more than half of their time on research, representing 0.5% (95% CI, 0.3%-0.9%) of all physicians.

Only 9.2% (95% CI, 6.5%-12.8%) of research-engaged physicians had a PhD; 37.6% (95% CI, 32.3%-43.2%) were not academically affiliated, whereas 61.8% (95% CI, 56.2%-67.1%) were. Among academically affiliated research-engaged physicians, 25.8% (95% CI, 19.9%-32.7%) were assistant professors, 32.2% (95% CI, 26.0%-39.2%) associate professors, and 27.1% (95% CI, 21.5%-33.4%) full professors. The rest were instructors, not faculty, or had another role. Research-engaged physicians worked across all specialty types, including one-third in medical specialties (32.9%; 95% CI, 28.5%-37.5%) and 22.2% (95% CI, 18.2%-26.7%) in surgical specialties. The most common type of research reported was clinical (83.6%; 95% CI, 79.0%-87.3%); basic science research was least common (6.7%; 95% CI, 4.5%-10.1%). One-third (34.5%; 95% CI, 29.3%-40.0%) of research-engaged physicians reported engagement in multiple types of research.

The population of research-engaged physicians is characterized by the same racial and ethnic and gender disparities as the overall workforce. Although a limitation of self-reported data is that we cannot confirm that what respondents consider research activities falls within widely accepted definitions of research, these results provide a more complete estimate of the current prevalence of physician research engagement than previously available. Although results suggest a much larger share of physicians are engaged in research than the estimated 1% to 2% who are physician scientists, most research-engaged physicians spend less than 10% of their time on research, and a similarly small proportion (0.5%-1%) of our respondents might be considered physician-scientists based on the percentage of time spent on research. These cross-sectional study findings provide a benchmark estimate for future studies and present evidence that physicians across medical specialties and work settings -- including physicians in community-based settings -- are actively engaged in a diverse array of research.

Corresponding Author: Alyssa Browne, PhD, Association of American Medical Colleges, 655 K St NW, Washington, DC 20001 ([email protected]).

Additional Contributions: I thank my colleagues Anurupa Dev, PhD, Dorothy Andriole, MD, Jodi Yellin, PhD, Julia Omotade, PhD, and Xiaochu Hu, PhD, at the Association of American Medical Colleges for their careful review of earlier drafts of the study.