Purpose
As a young medical school, Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine (WMed) hosts an annual Research Day to showcase scholarly work across six categories: basic science, case reports, clinical research, medical education, medical ethics, and public health. Publication of scholarly work supports WMed’s research mission and enhances student, resident, and faculty applications for further training and promotion. This study evaluates the publication rates of Research Day abstracts and trends over time.

Methods
Abstracts from WMed Research Days (2017-2024) and Scopus-indexed WMed publications (2017-2023) were collected. Titles were compared using Fuzzy Lookup, which assigns similarity scores to identify matches. Matches scoring 0.7 were included automatically; those scoring 0.5-0.7 were reviewed manually. Matched entries were categorized by year and research category. Statistical analyses were performed using a Chi-squared test (p <0.05).

Results
Of 581 abstracts, 71 (12.22%) were published. Clinical research had the highest publication rate (18.18%), followed by case reports (12.87%), medical education (12.50%), basic science (9.35%), and public health (5.41%). No medical ethics publications were identified, reflecting the fewer number of submissions. Publication rates peaked in 2018 (20.45%) and 2019 (23.08%) but declined in later years. Peaks occurred in 2018 for case reports, and in 2019 for basic science and medical education. Clinical and public health showed no clear peaks. A significant difference in publication rates over time was observed (2=14.83, p=0.01).

Conclusion
Publication trends reflect WMed’s development as a young institution, with initial growth followed by variability in recent years. Peaks in 2018 and 2019 indicate strong engagement in basic science, case reports, and medical education. Barriers include the lag between presentation and publication and the COVID-19 pandemic. These findings underscore the importance of longitudinal monitoring to assess poster-to-publication trajectories and guide strategies that promote research growth and academic success in young institutions.