F. M. Davis1, N. Matusko2, P. K. Henke1 1University Of Michigan,Section Of Vascular Surgery,Ann Arbor, MI, USA 2University Of Michigan,Department Of General Surgery,Ann Arbor, MI, USA
Introduction: During the past decade, concern has grown about the viability of research conducted by surgeons, citing diminished funding for surgical research, declining involvement of surgeons in laboratory-based investigations, and diminished academic productivity. Several surgical subspecialties, particularly cardiothoracic, plastic, and vascular surgery, have developed integrated training programs (0+5 or 0+6) in an effort to concentrate clinical training. As a consequence, these trainees get their research experience during this period rather than during the traditional general surgery time. The aim of this study was to describe the current state of research in these residency programs with a focus on faculty, h-index and NIH funding.
Methods: Demographics and individual data were collected for academic cardiothoracic, plastic or vascular surgery faculty with integrated residency training programs (24 cardiothoracic surgery programs, 67 plastic surgery programs, and 51 vascular surgery programs). Number of publications, citations, h-index, and NIH funding history were determined using SCOPUS and the NIH Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tools. Mann-Whitney U-tests and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used for comparison of continuous data as appropriate.
Results: Overall, of the 1,348 faculty, there were 44.6% assistant, 22.1% associate, and 33.3% full professors. Women comprised 13.5%; 4.4% were MD-PhDs and 2.5% PhDs. By surgical subspecialty, mean total publications/citations between 2012-2015 were: vascular, 14/534; plastic, 18/334; and cardiothoracic, 24/773 (P<0.05). The mean h-index and percent of faculty with current or former NIH funding for given surgical specialties included: vascular h-index 15.87, 12.3% NIH funding; cardiacthoracic surgery h-index 17.94, 19.0% NIH funding; plastic surgery h-index 11.01, 7.0% NIH funding (Table I; P<0.05). The odds of current or former NIH funding increases by 6.2% with each unit increase in h-index. Overall, h-index is significantly associated with current or former NIH funding (p < 0.05).
Conclusions: Academic productivity as defined by publications, citations, and NIH funding varies greatly between academic cardiothoracic, plastic, and vascular surgery departments with integrated residency programs. The impact of these departmental variations on trainees and junior faculty success bears close observation long term.
