The Thuss Lectureship Series at Vanderbilt University

Area of Science:

• Plastic Surgery
• Medical Education
• Academic Publishing

Background:

• The Thuss lectureship, established in 1978 at Vanderbilt and Stanford, honors Dr. Charles J. Thuss, Sr., and memorializes Dr. Thuss, Jr., and his son, Carter.
• This 2-day event includes workshops, dinners, keynote lectures, didactic sessions, and trainee research presentations.
• Trainee presentations have been catalogued since 2019 to track their contribution to academic literature.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify which trainee research presentations from the Thuss lectureship series have resulted in peer-reviewed publications.
• To assess the impact of the Thuss lectureship on academic output and career development for plastic surgery trainees.

Main Methods:

• Reviewed internal records from 2019 to 2022 to catalogue presenters and project titles.
• Conducted PubMed searches to link presentations to subsequent publications by the same presenters.
• Focused on presentations given at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center site of the Thuss lectureship.

Main Results:

• Between 2019 and 2023, 19 research presentations were given by 17 residents, fellows, and medical students.
• Nine of the 11 project presentations reviewed resulted in publications, with presenters as first authors on 6 articles.
• No trainee presentations occurred in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Conclusions:

• The Thuss lectureship at Vanderbilt effectively serves as an academic platform for plastic surgery research and collaboration in Tennessee.
• The lectureship fosters trainee involvement in academic literature, guiding projects from inception to publication.
• It supports the development of early-career plastic surgeons and contributes to the scientific body of knowledge in the field.