Department of Surgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas.
Division of Pediatric Surgery, Laboratory for Regenerative Tissue Repair, Texas Children's Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas.
J Surg Res. 2019 Dec;244:502-508. doi: 10.1016/j.jss.2019.06.008. Epub 2019 Jul 19.
Pediatric surgeons have long been advocates of basic science research. However, new challenges facing the scientific community have threatened the success of academic surgeons pursuing basic science careers. The purpose of this study was to compare academic pediatric surgeons' perceptions of their ability to effectively conduct basic science research to those of other surgical subspecialties.
An online survey was distributed to all members of the Association for Academic Surgery and Society of University Surgeons. A total of 1033 members (41%) responded, and 137 (13.3%) were pediatric surgeons. Comparisons were made between the five most-represented surgical subspecialties. Data are presented as reporting percentage and P values by Student's t-test.
Among the specialists studied, pediatric surgeons are those most likely to believe that surgeons can succeed as basic scientists in today's research environment. Pediatric surgery reported the highest rates of National Institutes of Health funding of all surgical specialties and the lowest rates of perceived external pressures related to clinical demands, hospital administrative duties, and work-life balance concerns than their surgical peers.
Pediatric surgeons have a more optimistic perspective on the state of basic science research in surgery while exhibiting an enhanced ability to overcome the challenges that surgeon-scientists currently face. Our findings suggest that pediatric surgery may provide a model for succeeding in basic science in today's challenging surgical research environment.
儿科外科医生一直以来都是基础科学研究的倡导者。然而，科学界面临的新挑战威胁到了从事基础科学职业的学术外科医生的成功。本研究的目的是比较学术儿科外科医生对自己有效开展基础科学研究能力的看法，以及其他外科亚专业的看法。
向协会学术外科医生和大学外科医生协会的所有成员分发了在线调查。共有 1033 名成员（41%）做出了回应，其中 137 名（13.3%）是儿科外科医生。对五个最具代表性的外科亚专业进行了比较。数据以报告百分比和学生 t 检验的 P 值呈现。
在所研究的专家中，儿科外科医生最有可能相信外科医生在当今的研究环境中可以成功地成为基础科学家。与其他外科同行相比，儿科手术报告了最高的美国国立卫生研究院资助率，以及最低的与临床需求、医院行政职责和工作与生活平衡问题相关的感知外部压力率。
儿科外科医生对手术基础科学研究的现状持更乐观的看法，同时表现出更强的克服目前外科科学家所面临挑战的能力。我们的研究结果表明，儿科手术可能为在当今具有挑战性的外科研究环境中成功开展基础科学提供了一个模式。
