In recent years, the field of surgery has increasingly embraced the many ways to be
productive as an academic surgeon. While earlier innovators such as Drs. Starzl and
Folkman translated basic science research from the bench to the bedside, the term
“academic surgery” today encompasses a much broader range of research domains – from
making discoveries in a basic science laboratory to shaping surgical education to
influencing health policy. Despite this progress, some students, trainees, and early
career surgeons find that lack of mentorship in an area of interest, limited academic
resources, and lagging misconceptions about the scope of surgical research can impede
progress in launching an academic career. These issues may be improving with an increased
focus on diverse research interests at some institutions and surgical societies but
still contribute to persistent disparities in academic attainment for underrepresented
groups.
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To address these challenges, the American Journal of Surgery (AJS) Student and Resident Scholars Research Delegation has created the AJS Virtual Research Mentor, a compilation of high-yield resources to help students, trainees, and surgeons jumpstart
their academic progress. The editorials in this series aim to share important references
used by researchers engaged in academic surgery and eliminate barriers to entry for
those with limited local research support. In this first installment, we explore identification
of a research niche among the increasingly diverse areas of investigation in surgery,
pathways to gaining research expertise at any career stage, and pillars of success
that underlie each academic pathway.To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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References
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- Benchmarking accomplishments of leaders in American surgery and justification for enhancing diversity and inclusion.Ann Surg. 2020 Dec; 272 (PubMed PMID: 32649466. Epub 2020/07/11): 897-903
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- Choosing a good scientific mentor and being a good mentee.in: Kennedy G. Gosain A. Kibbe M. LeMaire S.A. Success in Academic Surgery: Basic Science. Springer International Publishing, Cham2019: 13-20
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: October 27, 2021
Accepted:
October 19,
2021
Received in revised form:
October 11,
2021
Received:
August 3,
2021
Identification
Copyright
© 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
