TY - JOUR
T1 - Career track of Society of University Surgeons Resident Research Award recipients
AU - Hassan, Burhan
AU - Bernstam, Elmer
AU - Hines, O. Joe
AU - Simeone, Diane M.
AU - Weber, Sharon M.
AU - Geller, David A.
AU - Evers, B. Mark
AU - Meric-Bernstam, Funda
PY - 2013/11
Y1 - 2013/11
N2 - Background: The Society of University Surgeons (SUS) has an ongoing competitive funding program to support research training for residents. We sought to determine the career track of award recipients. Methods: We included in the study SUS resident awardees who completed awards from 1989-2007. Characteristics of awardees and their academic productivity were extracted from curriculum vitae provided by awardees (n = 24), or from online sources (n = 7). Results: Awardees spent an average of 2.7 y (range, 1-4 y) of dedicated research time during residency. Awardees averaged 9.8 publications (range, 1-32), with 5.4 as first author (range, 1-17), with their mentor within 3 y of award completion, with an average maximum impact factor of 5.7. A total of 25 residents (81%) pursued fellowships. At an average follow-up of 11.4 y (range, 4-22 y) from the end of the award and 7.2 y (range, 0-18 y) from end of clinical training, awardees had a Hirsch index of 14.5 (range, 2-48). At the time of the study, 26 awardees (84%) were in academic surgery. Of the 23 awardees who had completed surgical training ≥ 3 y earlier, 11 (48%) received independent research funding, seven of whom (30%) received R01 or equivalent funding. Conclusions: The SUS resident research awardees had a productive research experience. Although our retrospective study cannot determine causation, the SUS award mechanism delivers on its promise of supporting junior surgeon-scientists who pursue academic careers and establish independent research programs. Further studies are needed to determine how rates of subsequent independent research funding can be improved.
AB - Background: The Society of University Surgeons (SUS) has an ongoing competitive funding program to support research training for residents. We sought to determine the career track of award recipients. Methods: We included in the study SUS resident awardees who completed awards from 1989-2007. Characteristics of awardees and their academic productivity were extracted from curriculum vitae provided by awardees (n = 24), or from online sources (n = 7). Results: Awardees spent an average of 2.7 y (range, 1-4 y) of dedicated research time during residency. Awardees averaged 9.8 publications (range, 1-32), with 5.4 as first author (range, 1-17), with their mentor within 3 y of award completion, with an average maximum impact factor of 5.7. A total of 25 residents (81%) pursued fellowships. At an average follow-up of 11.4 y (range, 4-22 y) from the end of the award and 7.2 y (range, 0-18 y) from end of clinical training, awardees had a Hirsch index of 14.5 (range, 2-48). At the time of the study, 26 awardees (84%) were in academic surgery. Of the 23 awardees who had completed surgical training ≥ 3 y earlier, 11 (48%) received independent research funding, seven of whom (30%) received R01 or equivalent funding. Conclusions: The SUS resident research awardees had a productive research experience. Although our retrospective study cannot determine causation, the SUS award mechanism delivers on its promise of supporting junior surgeon-scientists who pursue academic careers and establish independent research programs. Further studies are needed to determine how rates of subsequent independent research funding can be improved.
KW - Career track
KW - H-index
KW - Research award
KW - SUS
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84886726316&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84886726316&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jss.2013.05.023
DO - 10.1016/j.jss.2013.05.023
M3 - Article
C2 - 23751805
AN - SCOPUS:84886726316
VL - 185
SP - 92
EP - 96
IS - 1
ER -