The Academic Surgeon - Official Blog of the AAS

As I come to the end of my fellowship training, the thought of new beginnings is frequently on my mind. I knew from an early age I wanted to pursue a career in medicine. As a child growing up with a heart condition requiring frequent visits to the emergency room, I wanted to reciprocate the […]

Join the October #AASchat on Tuesday, October 30th beginning at 8:00pm Eastern I probably should have said “No” to writing this blog post.  I said yes, because I thought it would be easy.  I’ll cut to the chase.  My main failing at saying “No” is that, like most surgeons, I think I can just squeeze […]

There has been slow attrition of surgeons from basic and translational science. Although external environmental pressures such as lack of funding, need for clinical productivity, and administrative duties play a significant role in this decline, there is also a lack of faith in our ability to succeed in the current environment1,2. Only 32% of surgical […]

Recently while scrolling through my Twitter feed, I ran across an article on Senator Tammy Duckworth1.  I can’t help but admire her tenacity and the sacrifices she has made for our country, plus I was intrigued by the headline that described her having a baby at age 50.  The article describes how Duckworth spent her […]

Here is a list of tips for writing a training research grant applications, such as the post-doctoral F32 fellowship: Pick the right funding agency. Certain funding agencies have higher paylines, more money available for postdoctoral fellows (you are one of these because you have an MD), or simply appreciate your research more than others would. […]

Two AAS Committees are pleased to present informational videos on the AAS website. As part of an initiative to create useful web content for AAS members on a variety of subjects relating to academic surgery, the AAS Leadership Committee and the AAS Global Affairs Committee have produced videos on two great topics: Time Management Tips […]

Excited by the prospect of treating myself to bananas foster French toast (yes, you read that right) after a 12 mile run, I coaxed myself out of bed before 6:00am on a Saturday. Proud that I was actually out of the house before 7:30am, I was mentally congratulating myself for the first mile and dreaming […]

As a transplant community, we have experienced record high organ transplant volumes for the past 5 years, surpassing 30,000 organs transplanted annually.  However, the grossly mismatched supply-and-demand issue has forced transplant professionals to ‘push the envelope’ of innovation in efforts to transplant more patients with the same or less donors.  This includes the use of […]