Medical school and residency influence on choice of an academic career and academic productivity among neurosurgery faculty in the United States Clinical article

[Eugene Garfield]

Medical school and residency influence on choice of an academic career and 
academic productivity among neurosurgery faculty in the United States Clinical 
article

Author(s): Campbell, PG (Campbell, Peter G.); Awe, OO (Awe, Olatilewa O.); 
Maltenfort, MG (Maltenfort, Mitchell G.); Moshfeghi, DM (Moshfeghi, Darius M.); 
Leng, T (Leng, Theodore); Moshfeghi, AA (Moshfeghi, Andrew A.); Ratliff, JK 
(Ratliff, John K.)
Source: JOURNAL OF NEUROSURGERY  Volume: 115  Issue: 2  Pages: 380-386  
DOI: 10.3171/2011.3.JNS101176  Published: AUG 2011  

Abstract: Object. Factors determining choice of an academic career in 
neurological surgery are unclear. This study seeks to evaluate the graduates of 
medical schools and US residency programs to determine those programs that 
produce a high number of graduates remaining within academic programs and 
the contribution of these graduates to academic neurosurgery as determined 
by h-index valuation. 
Methods. Biographical information from current faculty members of all 
accredited neurosurgery training programs in the US with departmental 
websites was obtained. Any individual who did not have an American Board of 
Neurological Surgery certificate (or was not board eligible) was excluded. The 
variables collected included medical school attended, residency program 
completed, and current academic rank. For each faculty member, Web of 
Science and Scopus h-indices were also collected. 
Results. Ninety-seven academic neurosurgery departments with 986 faculty 
members were analyzed. All data regarding training program and medical school 
education were compiled and analyzed by center from which each faculty 
member graduated. The 20 medical schools and neurosurgical residency training 
programs producing the greatest number of graduates remaining in academic 
practice, and the respective individuals' h-indices, are reported. Medical school 
graduates of the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons chose 
to enter academics the most frequently. The neurosurgery training program at 
the University of Pittsburgh produced the highest number of academic 
neurosurgeons in this sample. 
Conclusions. The use of quantitative measures to evaluate the academic 
productivity of medical school and residency graduates may provide objective 
measurements by which the subjective influence of training experiences on 
choice of an academic career may be inferred. The top 3 residency training 
programs were responsible for 10% of all academic neurosurgeons. The 
influence of medical school and residency experiences on choice of an 
academic career may be significant. (DOI: 10.3171/2011.3.JNS101176)

Language: English
Document Type: Article
Author Keywords: bibliometrics; citation analysis; h-index; neurosurgery; 
residency; medical school
KeyWords Plus: WEB-OF-SCIENCE; H-INDEX; GOOGLE-SCHOLAR; SCOPUS; 
RADIOLOGY; RANK

Addresses: [Campbell, PG; Maltenfort, MG; Ratliff, JK] Thomas Jefferson Univ, 
Dept Neurosurg, Philadelphia, PA 19107 USA
[Awe, OO] Thomas Jefferson Univ, Jefferson Med Coll, Philadelphia, PA 19107 
USA
[Moshfeghi, DM; Leng, T] Stanford Univ, Dept Ophthalmol, Palo Alto, CA 94304 
USA
[Moshfeghi, AA] Univ Miami, Bascom Palmer Eye Inst, Palm Beach Gardens, FL 
USA
Reprint Address: Ratliff, JK (reprint author), Thomas Jefferson Univ, Dept 
Neurosurg, 909 Walnut St,2nd Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19107 USA

E-mail Address: john.ratliff at jefferson.edu
ISSN: 0022-3085
PDF: http://thejns.org/doi/pdf/10.3171/2011.3.JNS101176