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Published on: February 16, 2011

Research: a vital component of optimal patient care in the United States

R Scott Jones1, Haile T Debas

  • 1Division of Research and Optimal Patient Care, American College of Surgeons, Chicago, IL, USA. rsj@virginia.edu

Annals of Surgery
|September 24, 2004
PubMed

Insights

Since 1975, medical doctors (MDs) applying for National Institutes of Health research funding have become less successful than PhDs or MD/PhDs. Surgeons specifically face significant funding challenges, likely due to an inadequate research workforce.

Area of Science:

  • Medical research funding trends
  • Surgical research workforce development

Background:

  • Since 1975, a decline in National Institutes of Health (NIH) research funding success rates for medical doctors (MDs) has been observed.
  • Applications from PhDs and MD/PhDs have historically shown greater success than those from MDs alone.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To analyze the trends in NIH research funding success rates for different academic degrees (MD, PhD, MD/PhD).
  • To investigate the disparity in NIH funding success between surgeons and other clinical researchers.
  • To identify potential reasons for the declining success of surgeons in obtaining research grants.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of NIH application success rates from 1975 onwards.
  • Comparison of funding success across different academic degrees (MD, PhD, MD/PhD).
  • Comparative analysis of funding success between surgical and non-surgical clinical disciplines.

Main Results:

  • MD/PhDs consistently demonstrated the highest success rates in NIH funding applications.
  • Clinical research proposals have been less successful than nonclinical proposals since 1975.
  • Surgeons have experienced a disproportionately greater decline in NIH funding success compared to other clinical researchers.

Conclusions:

  • The surgical profession's struggle to secure NIH funding is likely linked to a failure in developing and maintaining a robust research workforce.
  • Addressing the deficit in surgical research training and support is crucial for improving grant success rates.
  • Interventions aimed at strengthening the surgical research pipeline are necessary to reverse the negative funding trends.

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