TY - JOUR
T1 - Does Formal Research Training Lead to Academic Success in Plastic Surgery? A Comprehensive Analysis of U.S. Academic Plastic Surgeons
AU - Lopez, Joseph
AU - Ameri, Afshin
AU - Susarla, Srinivas M.
AU - Reddy, Sashank
AU - Soni, Ashwin
AU - Tong, J. W.
AU - Amini, Neda
AU - Ahmed, Rizwan
AU - May, James W.
AU - Lee, W. P.Andrew
AU - Dorafshar, Amir
N1 - Funding Information:
The outcome of interest, “academic success,” was defined by a primary variable (scientific productivity) and 2 secondary variables (academic rank and NIH funded or unfunded status). A proprietary bibliometric database (SCOPUS, Reed-Elsevier, London, UK) was used to examine each surgeon’s scientific productivity as measured by the h -index. 18 The h -index is defined as “the number of papers, h from a researcher with citation counts of h or greater for each paper,” (e.g., an author with an h -index of 5 has 5 publications that have each been cited at least 5 times). The h -index was devised by Hirsh in 2005, and has been validated for use in the physical and medical sciences, including plastic surgery. 19,20 The h -index score displayed in the “Create Citation Report” for each surgeon was recorded. The academic rank for each surgeon was reviewed and collected from the faculty member’s departmental websites. Rank was recorded as an ordinal variable (Instructor, Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, Professor, and Endowed Professor). The NIH funded or unfunded status of each faculty member who met the inclusion or exclusion criteria was examined using the NIH Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tools Expenditures and Reports website database. Funded status was defined as any surgeon who has been listed as a principal investigator, coinvestigator, or collaborator, and is actively or has previously received any grant funding from the NIH.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 Association of Program Directors in Surgery.
PY - 2016/5/1
Y1 - 2016/5/1
N2 - Introduction It is currently unknown whether formal research training has an influence on academic advancement in plastic surgery. The purpose of this study was to determine whether formal research training was associated with higher research productivity, academic rank, and procurement of extramural National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding in plastic surgery, comparing academic surgeons who completed said research training with those without. Methods This was a cross-sectional study of full-time academic plastic surgeons in the United States. The main predictor variable was formal research training, defined as completion of a postdoctoral research fellowship or attainment of a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD). The primary outcome was scientific productivity measured by the Hirsh-index (h-index, the number of publications, h that have at least h citations each). The secondary outcomes were academic rank and NIH funding. Descriptive, bivariate, and multiple regression statistics were computed. Results A total of 607 academic surgeons were identified from 94 Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education-accredited plastic surgery training programs. In all, 179 (29.5%) surgeons completed formal research training. The mean h-index was 11.7 ± 9.9. And, 58 (9.6%) surgeons successfully procured NIH funding. The distribution of academic rank was the following: endowed professor (5.4%), professor (23.9%), associate professor (23.4%), assistant professor (46.0%), and instructor (1.3%). In a multiple regression analysis, completion of formal research training was significantly predictive of a higher h-index and successful procurement of NIH funding. Conclusion Current evidence demonstrates that formal research training is associated with higher scientific productivity and increased likelihood of future NIH funding.
AB - Introduction It is currently unknown whether formal research training has an influence on academic advancement in plastic surgery. The purpose of this study was to determine whether formal research training was associated with higher research productivity, academic rank, and procurement of extramural National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding in plastic surgery, comparing academic surgeons who completed said research training with those without. Methods This was a cross-sectional study of full-time academic plastic surgeons in the United States. The main predictor variable was formal research training, defined as completion of a postdoctoral research fellowship or attainment of a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD). The primary outcome was scientific productivity measured by the Hirsh-index (h-index, the number of publications, h that have at least h citations each). The secondary outcomes were academic rank and NIH funding. Descriptive, bivariate, and multiple regression statistics were computed. Results A total of 607 academic surgeons were identified from 94 Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education-accredited plastic surgery training programs. In all, 179 (29.5%) surgeons completed formal research training. The mean h-index was 11.7 ± 9.9. And, 58 (9.6%) surgeons successfully procured NIH funding. The distribution of academic rank was the following: endowed professor (5.4%), professor (23.9%), associate professor (23.4%), assistant professor (46.0%), and instructor (1.3%). In a multiple regression analysis, completion of formal research training was significantly predictive of a higher h-index and successful procurement of NIH funding. Conclusion Current evidence demonstrates that formal research training is associated with higher scientific productivity and increased likelihood of future NIH funding.
KW - academic practice
KW - h-index
KW - postdoctoral research training
KW - research training
KW - residency
KW - surgical training
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84953791563&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84953791563&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jsurg.2015.12.001
DO - 10.1016/j.jsurg.2015.12.001
M3 - Article
C2 - 26796512
AN - SCOPUS:84953791563
SN - 1931-7204
VL - 73
SP - 422
EP - 428
JO - Journal of Surgical Education
JF - Journal of Surgical Education
IS - 3
ER -