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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- A roadmap for aspiring surgeon-scientists in today's healthcare environment.Ann Surg. 2019 Jan; 269 (PubMed PMID: 29958227. Pubmed Central PMCID: PMC6298819. Epub 2018/06/30): 66-72
- Maximizing the impact of surgical health services research: the methodology toolbox.JAMA Surgery. 2020; 155: 190-191
- Review of surgical education research trends in north America.J Surg Educ. 2019 Nov - Dec; 76 (PubMed PMID: 31350223. Epub 2019/07/28): 1476-1483
- From policy to patient care-the cycle of health policy research.JAMA Surg. 2019 Sep 1; 154 (PubMed PMID: 31268506. Epub 2019/07/04): 793-794
- Crossing the Quality Chasm: A New Health System for the 21st Century.2001 (Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US) Copyright 2001 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.)
- Above and beyond: a primer for young surgeons interested in global surgery.Bull Am Coll Surg. 2017 Feb; 102 (PubMed PMID: 28925237. Epub 2017/09/20. eng): 33-38
- Guide to research in academic global surgery: a statement of the society of university surgeons global academic surgery committee.Surgery. 2018 Feb; 163 (PubMed PMID: 29221877. Epub 2017/12/10. eng): 463-466
- The seven attributes of the academic surgeon: critical aspects of the archetype and contributions to the surgical community.Am J Surg. 2017; 214: 165-179
- 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
- The Society of Black Academic Surgeons CV benchmarking initiative: early career trends of academic surgical leaders.Am J Surg. 2020; 219: 546-551
- 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
- Recent trends in NIH funding for top surgeon-scientists.Am J Surg. 2020 Dec 4; (PubMed PMID: 33309253. Epub 2020/12/15. eng)
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.
