Academic Careers in Surgery: The Many Paths from Which to Choose

An advantage to early career planning exists, and this advantage pertains to undergraduate students, medical students, and residents. It is never too late to consider an academic career in surgery, and throughout this article, several paths, including several unique approaches, have been illustrated. For residents, it is especially important to take time to focus on career planning starting in internship, identify role models to help in the selection process of specialty or type of path, and seek mentorship for the ultimate selected path. Embedding research into the residency or fellowship training years could lead to a career as a clinical investigator or translational researcher surgical scientist. Advanced degrees may enhance a particular career path but not always necessary, and excellent courses exist for surgeons in or out of residency that provide "abbreviated" training in a particular field. Increased funding opportunities in educational outcomes research exist in part because of patient safety initiatives, which may be 1 way to tailor an educationally focused path. Building partnerships with PhD educators is essential just as one would seek partnerships with PhD basics scientists to develop well-designed trials answering important research questions. With medical school classes graduating 50% women, a need to recruit this constituent of students into academic careers also exists to continue to feed the pipeline and grow the number of academic surgeons in the future. This paradigm exists for other minorities as well, where mentorship is critically important to maintain that pipeline of academic surgeons.