TY - JOUR
T1 - Impact of international research fellows in neurosurgery
T2 - results from a single academic center
AU - Yang, Wuyang
AU - Rincon-Torroella, Jordina
AU - Feghali, James
AU - Khalafallah, Adham M.
AU - Ishida, Wataru
AU - Perdomo-Pantoja, Alexander
AU - Quiñones-Hinojosa, Alfredo
AU - Lim, Michael
AU - Gallia, Gary L.
AU - Riggins, Gregory J.
AU - Anderson, William S.
AU - Lo, Sheng Fu Larry
AU - Rigamonti, Daniele
AU - Tamargo, Rafael J.
AU - Witham, Timothy F.
AU - Bydon, Ali
AU - Cohen, Alan R.
AU - Jallo, George I.
AU - Latremoliere, Alban
AU - Luciano, Mark G.
AU - Mukherjee, Debraj
AU - Olivi, Alessandro
AU - Qu, Lintao
AU - Gokaslan, Ziya L.
AU - Sciubba, Daniel M.
AU - Tyler, Betty
AU - Brem, Henry
AU - Huang, Judy
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© AANS 2022.
PY - 2022/1
Y1 - 2022/1
N2 - OBJECTIVE International research fellows have been historically involved in academic neurosurgery in the United States (US). To date, the contribution of international research fellows has been underreported. Herein, the authors aimed to quantify the academic output of international research fellows in the Department of Neurosurgery at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. METHODS Research fellows with Doctor of Medicine (MD), Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), or MD/PhD degrees from a non-US institution who worked in the Hopkins Department of Neurosurgery for at least 6 months over the past decade (2010-2020) were included in this study. Publications produced during fellowship, number of citations, and journal impact factors (IFs) were analyzed using ANOVA. A survey was sent to collect information on personal background, demographics, and academic activities. RESULTS Sixty-four international research fellows were included, with 42 (65.6%) having MD degrees, 17 (26.6%) having PhD degrees, and 5 (7.8%) having MD/PhD degrees. During an average 27.9 months of fellowship, 460 publications were produced in 136 unique journals, with 8628 citations and a cumulative journal IF of 1665.73. There was no significant difference in total number of publications, first-author publications, and total citations per person among the different degree holders. Persons holding MD/PhDs had a higher number of citations per publication per person (p = 0.027), whereas those with MDs had higher total IFs per person (p = 0.048). Among the 43 (67.2%) survey responders, 34 (79.1%) had nonimmigrant visas at the start of the fellowship, 16 (37.2%) were self-paid or funded by their country of origin, and 35 (81.4%) had mentored at least one US medical student, nonmedical graduate student, or undergraduate student. CONCLUSIONS International research fellows at the authors' institution have contributed significantly to academic neurosurgery. Although they have faced major challenges like maintaining nonimmigrant visas, negotiating cultural/language differences, and managing self-sustainability, their scientific productivity has been substantial. Additionally, the majority of fellows have provided reciprocal mentorship to US students.
AB - OBJECTIVE International research fellows have been historically involved in academic neurosurgery in the United States (US). To date, the contribution of international research fellows has been underreported. Herein, the authors aimed to quantify the academic output of international research fellows in the Department of Neurosurgery at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. METHODS Research fellows with Doctor of Medicine (MD), Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), or MD/PhD degrees from a non-US institution who worked in the Hopkins Department of Neurosurgery for at least 6 months over the past decade (2010-2020) were included in this study. Publications produced during fellowship, number of citations, and journal impact factors (IFs) were analyzed using ANOVA. A survey was sent to collect information on personal background, demographics, and academic activities. RESULTS Sixty-four international research fellows were included, with 42 (65.6%) having MD degrees, 17 (26.6%) having PhD degrees, and 5 (7.8%) having MD/PhD degrees. During an average 27.9 months of fellowship, 460 publications were produced in 136 unique journals, with 8628 citations and a cumulative journal IF of 1665.73. There was no significant difference in total number of publications, first-author publications, and total citations per person among the different degree holders. Persons holding MD/PhDs had a higher number of citations per publication per person (p = 0.027), whereas those with MDs had higher total IFs per person (p = 0.048). Among the 43 (67.2%) survey responders, 34 (79.1%) had nonimmigrant visas at the start of the fellowship, 16 (37.2%) were self-paid or funded by their country of origin, and 35 (81.4%) had mentored at least one US medical student, nonmedical graduate student, or undergraduate student. CONCLUSIONS International research fellows at the authors' institution have contributed significantly to academic neurosurgery. Although they have faced major challenges like maintaining nonimmigrant visas, negotiating cultural/language differences, and managing self-sustainability, their scientific productivity has been substantial. Additionally, the majority of fellows have provided reciprocal mentorship to US students.
KW - global neurosurgery
KW - international research fellow
KW - mentorship
KW - postgraduate research training
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U2 - 10.3171/2021.1.JNS203824
DO - 10.3171/2021.1.JNS203824
M3 - Article
C2 - 34298505
AN - SCOPUS:85123389963
SN - 0022-3085
VL - 136
SP - 295
EP - 305
JO - Journal of neurosurgery
JF - Journal of neurosurgery
IS - 1
ER -