Introduction: Research publications are an essential component for any academic neurosurgeon. This process typically begins in residency. In this study, we analyze individual resident productivity as it correlated to publications across all ACGME accredited neurosurgery training programs.
Methods: We obtained a list of current neurosurgery residents in ACGME accredited programs from the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) database. An expanded PubMed search was conducted for each resident through the present time. We tabulated all articles attributed to each resident. We then categorized the publications based on each neurosurgical subspecialty while in residency. A spreadsheet-based statistical analysis was performed. This formulated the average number of resident first-author articles and most common subspecialty categories by training program.
Results: We analyzed 1,443 current neurosurgery residents in 105 programs. There were a total of 11,673 publications, of which 4,403 were resident first author publications during the period of study. The average neurosurgery resident has published 3.1 first author papers. There is an average of 41.9 first author publications by total residents at each program (range 0-242). The top 5 most prolific programs had total first author resident publications of 242, 205, 177, 156, and 155 publications, respectively. The average number of individual first author resident publications was 12.7, 9.8, 9.8, 7.5, and 7.0 for the top 5 programs, respectively. The most common subspecialties among all resident publications were vascular (23.8%), spine (16.6%), oncology (16.3%), pediatric (5.7%), functional (5.4%), and trauma (4.0%).
Conclusions: Resident first author publications correlated with recently described academic departmental productivity. Subspecialty resident publications are highest in cerebrovascular surgery. Resident publications are a crucial factor in academic productivity and ranking. Fostering a program of resident research and publication is imperative in developing an academic neurosurgeon.
Patient Care: To foster an environment for research to improve future patient care.
Learning Objectives: By the conclusion of this session, participants should be able to: 1) appreciate the academic productivity of U.S. neurosurgery residents, 2) understand program variations in research, and 3) appreciate the most commonly researched subspecialties in neurosurgery.