Surgeon-Scientist Career Pathway: Tips and Pearls from the Experts

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION: Physician-scientists (PS) are uniquely positioned to focus on pathophysiologic mechanisms underlying disease and evaluate research knowledge gaps that will impact clinical care. Fewer physicians are pursuing a PS career (Balestrini 2020) and burnout is high among early-career PS, particularly in women (Perumalswami 2019).

Among PS, surgeon-scientists are rare. Surgeons are 2.5 times less likely to apply for NIH career development awards than non-surgeons (Rangel 2004). Among the top NIH institutes funding surgeons, 1-9% of funding was awarded to surgeon-scientists (Demblowski 2022). We must combat the attrition of the surgeon-scientist pipeline.

In OHNS, the number of surgeon-scientists is one of the lowest across surgical specialties (Ramsey 2023). Many aspiring OHNS surgeon-scientists have mentors outside of the OHNS specialty and/or who are unfamiliar with the unique challenges surgeon-scientists face. This can lead to frustration and burnout for many surgeon-scientists. Challenges include:
- Balancing patient care + research while developing a practice
- Addressing productivity targets
- Developing mentorship team
- Avoiding burnout
- Garnering grant funding + protected time
- Overcoming setbacks
OHNS societies can leverage the knowledge of successful surgeon-scientists to help bridge the gap in mentorship and guidance to the next generation of surgeon-scientists.

This panel contains successful surgeon-scientists in different OHNS fields and at various career stages. Each panelist took a distinctive research path. The panel will focus on the research pathway from development of a successful early-career research program to the transition into an independent scientist.

GOALS: This diverse panel of successful surgeon-scientists will discuss the important elements needed to develop and progress in the research pathway with a particular focus on funding and common pitfalls without burning out.

TARGET AUDIENCE: Trainees and attendings who are interested in developing a surgeon-scientist career or taking an early surgeon-scientist career to the next level.