Career track of Society of University Surgeons Resident Research Award recipients

BackgroundThe 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.MethodsWe 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).ResultsAwardees 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.ConclusionsThe 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.