Abstract
Introduction
Promotion within academic surgery involves demonstrated excellence in administrative,
clinical, and scholarly activities. The present study analyzes the relationship between
scholarly and clinical productivity in the field of reconstructive microsurgery.
Methods
This is a retrospective cohort study of microsurgery fellowship directors (MFDs).
Data on clinical productivity were obtained from the American Society for Reconstructive
Microsurgery and scholarly productivity from Scopus. Outcomes were department annual
free flap volume, number of publications, and h-index. Descriptive statistics were
calculated, and nonparametric tests were used to compare continuous variables.
Results
Thirty-nine MFDs were included in this study. All were plastic surgery residency trained
and 38% trained under the independent training pathway. Most underwent formal fellowship
training in reconstructive microsurgery (89%). The top three microsurgery fellowships
trained 37% of all MFDs. Twenty-five percent of MFDs trained at the institution where
they ultimately became program director. Twenty percent of MFDs had an additional
degree (4 MS, 2 PhD, and 1 MBA). The median number of annual free flaps performed
per institution was 175 (interquartile range [IQR] 122). The median h-index was 17
(IQR 13) resulting from 48 (IQR 99) publications. There was a correlation between
department annual free flap volume and h-index (r = 0.333, P = 0.038).
Conclusions
There is a correlation between academic productivity of MFDs and the clinical productivity
of their department. This study provides a benchmark for aspiring reconstructive microsurgeons.
Keywords
To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
Purchase one-time access:
Academic & Personal: 24 hour online accessCorporate R&D Professionals: 24 hour online accessOne-time access price info
- For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
- For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'
Subscribe:
Subscribe to Journal of Surgical ResearchAlready a print subscriber? Claim online access
Already an online subscriber? Sign in
Register: Create an account
Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect
References
- Racial and ethnic disparities in promotion and retention of academic surgeons.Am J Surg. 2018; 216: 678-682
- Bibliometric indices and academic promotion within plastic surgery.Plast Reconstr Surg. 2014; 134: 838e-844e
- The 2020 evidence-based promotion ladder of academic plastic surgery.Cureus. 2021; 13: e15221
- Call to action: accreditation of microsurgery fellowship.Plast Reconstr Surg Glob Open. 2021; 9: e3874
- Trends in Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education accreditation for subspecialty fellowship training in plastic surgery.Plast Reconstr Surg. 2018; 141: 768e-774e
- Fellowship search.(Available at:)https://www.microsurg.org/education/fellowships/fellowship-search/Date accessed: November 1, 2021
- Impact of clinical volume on scholarly activity in an academic children's hospital: trends, implications, and possible solutions.Pediatr Radiol. 2001; 31: 786-789
- The relationship of clinical and academic productivity in a university hospital radiology department.AJR Am J Roentgenol. 2000; 174: 27-31
- Academic versus clinical productivity of cardiac surgeons in the state of New York: who publishes more and who operates more.Am Surg. 2018; 84: 71-79
- Preserving an academic mission in the face of clinical productivity targets: where is the academic surgeon's carrot?.Ann Surg. 2020; 271: 223-224
- NIH funding for surgeon-scientists in the US: what is the current status?.J Am Coll Surg. 2021; 232: 265-274
- Surgeon scientists are disproportionately affected by declining NIH funding rates.J Am Coll Surg. 2018; 226: 474-481
- National Institutes of Health funding in plastic surgery: a crisis?.Plast Reconstr Surg. 2016; 138: 732-739
- The impact of National Institutes of Health funding on scholarly productivity in academic plastic surgery.Plast Reconstr Surg. 2016; 137: 690-695
- Factors impacting successfully competing for research funding: an analysis of applications submitted to the Plastic Surgery Foundation.Plast Reconstr Surg. 2015; 135: 429e
- Application of the h-index in academic plastic surgery.Ann Plast Surg. 2016; 76: 545-549
- A comparison of research productivity across plastic surgery fellowship directors.Aesthet Surg J. 2016; 36: 732-736
- Influence of residency training on research productivity and plastic surgery career.Ann Plast Surg. 2020; 85: 672-676
- Academic productivity of faculty associated with microsurgery fellowships.Microsurgery. 2017; 37: 641-646
- Deconstructing a leader: an in-depth analysis of the commonalities between plastic surgery chiefs and chairmen.Plast Reconstr Surg. 2019; 144: 235-241
- Evaluation of the content and accessibility of microsurgery fellowship program websites.Microsurgery. 2015; 35: 560-564
Article info
Publication history
Published online: November 22, 2022
Accepted:
November 3,
2022
Received in revised form:
October 23,
2022
Received:
February 7,
2022
Footnotes
Ethical Review Committee Statement: This study received review exemption from the institutional review board.
Identification
Copyright
© 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
