Association For Academic Surgery Research Articles

Association for Academic Surgery/Society of University Surgeons research awards are highly successful in fostering future surgeon–scientists

BackgroundThe surgeon–scientist brings a unique perspective to surgical research. The Association of Academic Surgeons and Society of University Surgeons foster the development of surgeon–scientists through foundation awards to residents and junior faculty. We sought to evaluate the academic success of surgeons who received an Association for Academic Surgery/Society of University Surgeons award. MethodsInformation was collected for individuals who received a resident or junior faculty research award from the Association for Academic Surgery or Society of University Surgeons. Google Scholar, Scopus, and the National Institutes of Health Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tools: Expenditures and Results were used to assess scholarly achievements. ResultsEighty-two resident awardees were included, 31 (38%) of whom were female. Thirteen (24%) are now professors, 12 (22%) are division chiefs, and 4 (7%) are department chairs. Resident awardees have a median of 886 citations (interquartile range 237–2,111) and an H-index of 14 (interquartile range 7–23). Seven (13%) went on to receive K08/K23 awards, and 7 (13%) received R01s, with a total of about $200 million in National Institutes of Health funding (79-fold return on investment). Thirty-four junior faculty awardees were included, 10 (29%) of whom were female. Thirteen (38%) are now professors, 12 (35%) are division chiefs, and 7 (21%) are department chairs. Faculty awardees have a median of 2,617 citations (interquartile range 1,343–7,857) and an H-index of 25 (interquartile range 18–49). Four (12%) received K08 or K23 awards, and 10 (29%) received R01s, with about $139 million in National Institutes of Health funding (98-fold return on investment). ConclusionAssociation for Academic Surgery/Society of University Surgeons research awardees experience high degrees of success in academic surgery. Most resident awardees pursue fellowship training and remain in academic surgery. A high percentage of both faculty and resident awardees hold leadership positions and successfully achieve National Institutes of Health funding.

Shattering Glass Ceilings: Three Black Women Surgeons Ascend to Chairs of Departments of Surgery.

Shattering Glass Ceilings: Three Black Women Surgeons Ascend to Chairs of Departments of Surgery.

Editorial introductions.

Current Opinion in Organ Transplantation was launched in 1996. It is part of a successful series of review journals whose unique format is designed to provide a systematic and critical assessment of the literature as presented in the many primary journals. The field of organ transplantation is divided into 18 sections that are reviewed once a year. Each section is assigned a Section Editor, a leading authority in the area, who identifies the most important topics at that time. Here we are pleased to introduce the Section Editors for this issue. SECTION EDITORS Joseph F. MaglioccaJoseph F. MaglioccaJoseph F. Magliocca, MD, is Assistant Professor in the Division of Transplantation in the Department of Surgery at Emory University School of Medicine. Dr Magliocca, a board certified surgeon specializing in liver transplantation, also serves as Surgical Director of the Liver Transplant Program at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. Prior to his work at Emory, Dr Magliocca was the surgical director of adult and pediatric liver transplantation as well as pancreas transplantation at the University of Florida College of Medicine. He also directed the medical student and resident education components of University of Florida's transplant and hepatobiliary surgery program. Dr Magliocca belongs to numerous professional organizations including American College of Surgeons, American Society of Transplant Surgeons, The Transplantation Society, American Society of Transplantation, International Pediatric Transplant Association, International Pancreas and Islet Transplant Association, and Association for Academic Surgery. He is a member of the Cancer Prevention and Control Research Program at Winship. Dr Magliocca currently serves as an associate editor of the American Journal of Transplantation, and is actively engaged in clinical and translational research investigating the preservation and resuscitation of liver grafts. Dr Magliocca's research interests include organ preservation, ischemia/reperfusion injury and management of immunosuppression in patients following transplantation. Laurens J. CeulemansLaurens J. CeulemansLaurens J. Ceulemans (1985) graduated as medical doctor in 2010 at KU Leuven, Belgium (MD). In 2017 he obtained his PhD with his contributions to the clinical and basic science field of intestinal transplantation and ischemia reperfusion injury. After his specialization in general surgery (2018), he completed a clinical and research fellowship in thoracic surgery and transplantation at the University Hospitals and ETH Zürich in Switzerland. This fellowship was supported by several grants including the prestigious Horlait-Dapsens and ESOT schorlarships. Since 2019 he has worked as a thoracic and transplant surgeon at the department of Thoracic Surgery and the Leuven Intestinal Failure and Transplant (LIFT) center at the University Hospitals Leuven. He is appointed as professor in Surgery at KU Leuven and his basic research focuses on both the intestine and the lung. He is the author of 100 peer-reviewed papers and actively enrolled in several transplant societies. He is a council member for IRTA since 2018 and chair of the Membership and Education committee since 2021.

Surgeons and social media: The use of twitter hashtags at the Academic Surgical Congress 2015–2019: A cross sectional study

BackgroundThe use of Twitter hashtags at medical conferences has revolutionized the way healthcare professionals interact and advance their education. We aim to investigate the scope of the Academic Surgical Congress's online reach and engagement through the use of Twitter hashtags #ASC from 2015 to 2019, by analyzing the number of impressions and tweets and retweets. MethodsA cross sectional study of Twitter data through Symplur with the following conference hashtags for the Academic Surgical Congress annual meetings for years 2015–2019: #ASC2015, #ASC2016, #ASC2017, #ASC2018, and #ASC2019. Data on tweets, retweets, users, and impressions was reviewed along with information on the top 10 influencers and the most frequently tweeted links. Symplur Signals software was utilized to extract and assimilate data. Statistical Significance was defined as p < 0.05. ResultsTwitter engagement metrics significantly increased from 11,400 to 32,100 from 2015 to 2017 (p < 0.05). However, from 2017 to 2019, there was a significant decline in engagement metrics from 32,100 to 26,100 (p < 0.05). Impressions increased significantly from 13,100 in 2015 to 71,800 impressions in 2019 (p < 0.05). Users grew significantly from 1500 in 2015 to peak at 4600 in 2017 before dropping back to 3300 in 2019 (p < 0.05). The most influential organizations during these years were the organizers of the conference: Association for Academic Surgery and the Society of University Surgeons. Conference attendance progressively increased from approximately 1700 in 2016 to about 2100 in 2019 (p < 0.05). ConclusionsTwitter engagement metrics at the Academic Surgical Congress 2015–2019 has fluctuated, while impressions significantly increased through the years indicating the consistent dissemination of conference content.

The academic tweet: Twitter as a tool to advance academic surgery

Social media, Twitter in particular, has emerged as an essential tool for surgeons. In the realm of academic surgery, it enables surgeons to advance the core values of academic surgery, as outlined by the Association for Academic Surgery: inclusion, leadership, innovation, scholarship, and mentorship. This article details the ways in which surgeons are using Twitter to embody these values and how the Twitter account for the Association of Academic Surgeons accomplishes its goal of inspiring and developing young academic surgeons.

Introduction to the 2017 Founders' Lecture of the Association for Academic Surgery

This year's Founders' Lecture will focus on the founding and history of the Association for Academic Surgery (AAS), as presented by five past presidents. The lecture will give the readers a unique and condensed perspective on the remarkable history of the AAS. The AAS was founded in 1967 by Dr George Zuidema with the mission to offer young academic surgeons an inclusive forum for discussion about surgical research and the opportunity for professional growth.1 Since its establishment in 1966, with a membership of only 33 people,1the organization has grown into a diverse international organization with over 2800 members. Today, the AAS embraces five core values to promote the careers of young academic surgeons: inclusion, leadership, innovation, scholarship, and mentorship. In this introduction to the brief history of the AAS, we review how this organization emerged from these principles.

The Association for Academic Surgery 2011-present: standing on the shoulders of giants

The Association for Academic Surgery (AAS), which is a society dedicated to inspiring and developing young academic surgeons, recently celebrated its 50th anniversary. Each decade since its inception has seen incredible growth. This most recent decade, from 2011 to present, has been characterized by: (1) reevaluation and clarification of the society's vision, mission, core values and organizational structure; (2) diversification of the membership and leadership; (3) support for international outreach and global surgery research; (4) expansion of its impact through social media; and (5) adaptability to a changing political climate.

The Association for Academic Surgery: Its first decade

The Association for Academic Surgery: Its first decade

The Association for Academic Surgeons 2001-2010: a decade of inclusiveness

The Association for Academic Surgery (AAS) was established to inspire and develop academic surgeons. Since its founding in 1966, each decade has been marked by continued growth and innovations. The era of 2001-2010 was a decade notable for its focus on inclusiveness and diversity. In those ten years, the AAS grew its membership from all surgical backgrounds, established defining programs that remain today, and invested substantially in international outreach. In this article, we review these historical highlights and will demonstrate that the AAS remains the most important home for the young academic surgeon.

The positive association of Association for Academic Surgery membership with academic productivity

BackgroundTo evaluate the academic productivity and National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding of members of the Association for Academic Surgery (AAS). MethodsAcademic metrics including, numbers of publications, citations, and NIH funding history were determined for 4015 surgical faculty at the top 55 NIH-funded departments of surgery, using Scopus, NIH RePORT, and the Grantome online databases. ResultsAAS membership included 20.5% (824) of all 4015 surgical faculty in this database. For members of the AAS, publications (P) ± standard deviation and citations (C) ± SD were P: 54 ± 96 and C: 985 ± 3321, compared with P: 31 ± 92, C: 528 ± 3001 for nonmembers, P < 0.001. Higher academic productivity among AAS members was observed across all subspecialty types and was especially pronounced for assistant and associate professors. AAS membership was also associated with increased rates of NIH funding and better productivity for equally funded surgical faculty compared with nonmembers. Analysis of AAS membership by subspecialty revealed that AAS members were most commonly general surgery faculty (57.8%); however, only 7.4% of the faculty was affiliated with cardiothoracic surgery. There was also a lack of dedicated science and/or research faculty (0.6% versus 3.4%) among the members of the AAS. ConclusionsAAS membership appears to be correlated with greater academic performance among junior and midlevel surgical faculty. This improvement is observed regardless of subspecialty. Increased participation of faculty within subspecialties such as cardiothoracic surgery and, a greater focus on increasing the numbers of dedicated research faculty within the AAS may help increase the scientific impact and productivity among members of the society.

An estimate of hernia prevalence in Nepal from a countrywide community survey

BackgroundHerniorrhaphy is one of the most frequently performed general surgical operations worldwide; however, most low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) are unable to provide this essential surgery resulting in substantial morbidity and mortality. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of, barriers to care for, and disability from untreated hernias in Nepal. MethodsA cluster randomised, cross-sectional household survey was performed in Nepal using the validated Surgeons OverSeas Assessment of Surgical (SOSAS) tool. Sample size was based on a pilot study that reported a 5% prevalence of unmet surgical need. 15 clusters consisting of 30 households each were sampled proportional to population. In each, two randomly selected family members underwent a verbal head-to-toe physical examination and answered questions about barriers to care and disability. FindingsThe survey sampled 1350 households, totalling 2695 individuals (97% response rate). 1434 (53%) of responders were men and 1·5% (95% CI 1·8–4·0) had a mass or swelling in the groin at time of survey. The age-standardised rate for inguinal hernias in men ranged from 1144 per 100 000 persons between age 5 and 49 years and 2941 per 100 000 persons aged 50 years and older. 29 respondents were not able to have surgery due to lack of surgical services (nine; 31%), fear or mistrust of the surgical system (nine; 31%), and inability to afford care (six; 21%). 10 respondents (20%) were unable to work as previous or perform self-care due to their hernia. InterpretationDespite the lower than expected prevalence of inguinal hernias, more than 300 000 people in Nepal are currently in need of herniorrhaphy. In view that essential surgery is a necessary component in health systems, the prevalence of inguinal hernias and the cost-effectiveness of herniorrhaphy, this disease is an important target for LMICs planning surgical capacity improvements. FundingSurgeons OverSeas, Association for Academic Surgery, and the Fogarty International Center.

2014 Society of University Surgeons Presidential Address

Good morning, and welcome to the 9th annual Academic Surgical Congress, and the 75th meeting of the Society of University Surgeons (SUS). During the past year, I began considering the role of the Society of University Surgeons in our matrix as university surgeons and our joint meeting with the Association for Academic Surgery (AAS). How could the Academic Surgical Congress (ASC) have grown so rapidly during a short period of time? What value do the SUS, the AAS, and the ASC bring to each of you sitting in the audience today? As you sit here in this auditorium, on occasion checking in with the rest of your life on your smart phone, you may be asking the question “why am I here?” Why have I traveled hundreds of miles, put my schedule on pause, arranged for coverage of my patients, traveled away from my family and friends, and generally put my life on hold to attend this meeting?

Real world versus ivory tower: the challenge for academic surgery

Academic surgeons increasingly must balance scientific pursuits with the demands of maintaining a clinical practice. This article describes the core values of the Association for Academic Surgery and how these values can guide the survival of the society and of academic surgery given the changing healthcare landscape. These values include: promotion, diversity and inclusivity, scientific excellence, innovation, collaboration, and mentorship. By redefining academic surgery, enabling the collective mind, and harnessing technology, the society and academic surgery can be resilient in the face of current and future adversity.

Use of Twitter to document the 2013 Academic Surgical Congress

BackgroundSocial media is a cornerstone of modern society and its use in health care has rapidly expanded in recent years. “Live Tweeting” of professional meetings is a growing way for participants to communicate with peers. The goal of this study was to analyze the initial experience with implementation of a Twitter Team at the 2013 Academic Surgical Congress (ASC). Materials and methodsFour ASC attendees were designated as the “Twitter Team” for the 2013 meeting. Organizational leadership prominently promoted the unique meeting hashtag (#2013ASC). Twdocs and TweetReach were used to aggregate data 1 wk after the meeting. ResultsA total of 58 independent users posted tweets with the #2013ASC hashtag during the week of the meeting. Total tweets numbered 434, with 288 original tweets. Of the 37 users who were identifiable individuals, 19 were in attendance at the ASC; 18 of the identifiable individuals were members of either the Association for Academic Surgery and/or the Society of University Surgeons. The ASC Twitter Team was responsible for 76% of all #2013ASC tweets. The three most common content areas for tweets were promotional (147), content related from presidential sessions (96), and social (75). ConclusionsTwitter provides a meaningful social media format for sharing information during academic surgical meetings. The use of Twitter sharply expands the available audience for meeting proceedings and broadens the discussion venue for scholarly activity. “Tweeting the meeting” represents an important future direction for information dissemination in academic surgery.

Editorial introductions

Editorial introductions

Karim Alavi, MD, MPH, FACS, FASCRS

Dr. Karim Alavi is the program director of the Colon and Rectal Surgery Fellowship Program at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, MA, and an assistant professor of surgery in the Department of Surgery. Karim was born in Tehran, Iran, and received a BS and MD degree from George Washington University, Washington, DC. His residency in general surgery was conducted at the Washington Hospital Center in Washington, DC, and included 2 years of research in pediatric surgery at the Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, DE. After this training, Karim completed a residency in colon and rectal surgery at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN. Dr. Alavi then started his academic career as a clinical instructor in surgery and as a staff colorectal surgeon in the Department of Surgery at the University of Minnesota Medical School in Minneapolis, MN. In 2007, he moved to Boston, MA, and joined the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, MA, as an assistant professor of surgery in the Department of Surgery and progressed to his current positions. During this period, he also completed a Masters in Public Health at the Harvard University School of Public Health. He, also, participated in the Junior Faculty Development Program at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. He is certified by the American Board of Surgery and the American Board of Colon and Rectal Surgery. Karim remains an active clinician and educator. He interacts with students and surgical trainees on a daily basis. He is also an active participant in multiple surgical societies including the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons and currently serves on the Program Committee, Association for Academic Surgery and Association of Program Directors for Colon and Rectal Surgery. Karim's contributions to the medical literature include 23 peer-reviewed manuscripts and 3 book chapters. He is a reviewer for multiple journals and has made multiple presentations at national meetings. Karim, his wife Shirin, and children, Parsa and Radeen, live in Southborough, MA. When not working, Karim enjoys running, swimming, basketball, tennis, and watching Washington Redskins football. All of us have participated in educational activities, initially on the receiving end and many now also spend a major portion of their professional lives as faculty in training programs. Unfortunately, few of us have had the benefit of formal training as educators. In this issue of Clinics of Colon and Rectal Surgery, Dr. Alavi has compiled a distinguished group of academics who have presented a comprehensive review of important aspects of the educational process. It should be required reading for all surgeons considering becoming an educator or currently participating in training our future physicians and surgeons. On behalf of the readers and staff of Clinics of Colon and Rectal Surgery, I sincerely thank Dr. Alavi for serving as the guest editor for this significant issue on faculty development in surgery.

The Art and Science of Publishing: Reflections from Editors of Surgery Journals.

During the 8th Annual Academic Surgical Congress held in New Orleans, Louisiana, on February 5–7, 2013, the Association for Academic Surgery (AAS) Presidential Session was dedicated to the topic of publishing. A survey consisting of 37 questions on issues related to publishing was administered to the AAS membership 1 mo before the meeting. The results of the survey were then presented during the 2013 AAS Presidential Session. In addition, a panel of five editors from surgery journals relevant to the membership of the AAS was convened to discuss topics addressed in the results of the survey. These topics included: (1) how to publish in high-impact factor journals; (2) top five reasons why manuscripts get rejected; (3) the do's and don'ts of publishing (i.e., ethics of publishing); (4) how to get on an editorial board; and (5) the future of publishing. This review summarizes the contents of this AAS Presidential Session and provides information relevant for any academician, investigator, or scientist.

Scientific impact of Association for Academic Surgery and Society of University Surgeons plenary session abstracts increases in the era of the Academic Surgical Congress from 2006 to 2010

BackgroundThe objective of our study was to analyze plenary abstracts since 2006, when the Association for Academic Surgery (AAS) and Society of University Surgeons (SUS) began hosting the combined annual Academic Surgical Congress (ASC). Plenary session abstracts from the separate AAS and SUS meetings from 2002 to 2004 had previously revealed no significant difference in the scientific impact of published manuscripts. Materials and methodsIn total, 76 abstracts from the AAS (n = 40) and SUS (n = 36) plenary sessions at the annual ASC meetings (2006–2010) were reviewed. Publication rate, citation number, 2010 impact factor (IF), and 5-y IF were obtained. Statistical analysis was conducted using Fisher exact and Student t-tests. ResultsOverall, 60 (79%) of 76 ASC plenary abstracts presented between 2006 and 2010 were published in peer-reviewed journals. Analysis revealed a higher publication rate for AAS (90%) compared with SUS (67%) plenary abstracts (P = 0.02). Among the articles published, the overall mean number of total citations was 6.7, with no difference between AAS and SUS (5.9 versus 7.8, P = 0.46). The mean 2010 five-year IF for all publications was 4.6 (AAS, 4.3 versus SUS, 5.0; P = 0.54). Compared with a previous analysis from the separate meetings, the mean IF has increased for both societies at an equivalent rate of 0.4. ConclusionsAfter the initiation of the joint ASC meeting in 2006, the SUS and AAS plenary presentations continue to exhibit high-quality research. This study supports the benefit of a joint meeting for the AAS and SUS, as it has been associated with an increasing overall scientific impact for plenary abstracts.

Association for Academic Surgery presidential address: Toward self-actualization in academic surgery

Association for Academic Surgery presidential address: Toward self-actualization in academic surgery

Editorial introductions

Editorial introductions