Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 12, 2025
05:25
Step By Step: Microsurgical training method combining two nonliving animal models
Published on: May 9, 2015
15.4K
Where You Train Matters: Surgeon-Scientists Disproportionately Trained at Highly Funded Institutions
Mackenzie M Mayhew1, Nidhi Kuchimanchi1, Justin Lee1
1Department of Surgery, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA.
Annals of Surgery
|August 4, 2025
Summary
Surgeon-scientists trained at top-funded institutions secure more National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding. Training at well-resourced residency programs is linked to greater research success and scientific influence for surgeon-scientists.
Area of Science:
- Surgical research
- Medical research funding
- Academic medicine
Background:
- Securing National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding presents significant challenges for surgeon-scientists.
- Surgical research funding historically lags behind other medical disciplines.
- Training within institutions possessing substantial resources may foster greater research engagement and improve funding acquisition success.
Purpose of the Study:
- To map the distribution of surgeon-scientists who receive NIH funding based on their residency training institution.
- To investigate the correlation between training at institutions with higher NIH funding levels and an individual surgeon-scientist's success in obtaining NIH grants.
Main Methods:
- Utilized Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research (BRIMR) rankings to identify NIH-funded principal investigators (NIH-PIs) in Surgery Departments from 2013-2023.
- Categorized residency programs into NIH funding quartiles and identified top-ten programs based on average institutional funding.
- Employed statistical analyses including chi-square tests, Fisher's exact tests, nonparametric tests, Z-tests, and linear regression.
Main Results:
- The majority of NIH-funded surgeon-scientists (70.5%) trained at first-quartile institutions, which consistently received 75-85% of annual NIH funding.
- While total annual funding was substantially higher for those trained in first-quartile institutions ($117.9M vs. $24.8M), the median funding per PI did not significantly differ.
- Surgeons trained at top-ten institutions demonstrated higher median funding per PI, faster funding growth, and greater scientific influence (NIH iCite weighted relative citation ratio).
Conclusions:
- A significant proportion of NIH-funded surgeon-scientists complete their residency training at institutions with high levels of NIH funding.
- These findings underscore the potential impact of training environments with robust research funding on a surgeon-scientist's career trajectory and funding success.
