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your packet early and get help because these templates are not always intuitive, and it is at times hard to figure out which information goes where. Know all the important deadlines along the application process so that you don’t miss a critical submission. In general, the packet is composed of sections for each of the areas of expertise – patient care, teaching, research, and service. In addition to a list of your accomplishments, you will need to provide personal statements detailing your clinical, research, and educational philosophies. Be enthusiastic, organized, clear, and concise. Next, make sure you have accurate documentation of any and all funding, peer-review activities, manuscripts, abstracts submitted, presentations given (both peer-reviewed and invited), students or residents mentored, data regarding your evaluations, and any academic honors you have received. This process should be an accurate accounting of all of the hard work you have put in over the last 6 or more years. The final component is to solicit letters of recommendation from people of prominence around the country who know you well and whose support will register soundly with the promotion committee. Again requirements vary, but you will generally need a balanced list of approximately five internal recommendations and five external recommendations. These should ideally be people who have achieved full professor at their own institutions and who have attained significant academic and national stature, but also people who know you well enough to lend strong personal support to your application. Again, start this process early because such people are often busy and need time to complete your letter, and don’t be afraid to send reminders as the deadline approaches to be sure your application is complete.

Associate Professor and Transition to Full Professor

Now that you have achieved promotion to Associate Professor, do not let up on your effort.Your accomplishments as Assistant Professor serve as the springboard that will propel you to Full

Professor and the process starts right away. The timeline to

Professor is usually less well defined than for your first promotion. In general, if you have stayed right on track, you should be eligible for Professor at about the 10-year mark into your academic career or roughly 4–5 years after your promotion to Associate.The main focus of this next stage should be the establishment of your expertise and reputation nationally (and even internationally). Clinically, this may involve the establishment of a unique clinical program in your field that effects practice patterns, active clinical trial activity and leadership, and/or important high-impact clinical publications in the field. This may lead to an invitation to participate in American Board of Surgery activities. National recognition in research will come primarily through establishing yourself as an independent investigator with multiple extramural grants. You will need to keep up momentum in this regard and write and submit grants and publish regularly. Your national recognition and expertise in research will be rewarded by invitations to serve on NIH study sections. Further national recognition in academics will come through increased involvement in professional societies like the AAS or Society for University Surgeons and demonstration of significant leadership positions including holding officer positions. National recognition on education can be achieved through the establishment of novel educational curricula that get national exposure and perhaps adoption through societies like the Association for Surgical Education, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, and the American College of Surgeons. Educationally, this is also a time to increase mentorship activities both locally and nationally and truly impact the next generation of surgeons. Finally, this is the time where you may consider some of the opportunities that you passed on previously like service locally on committees (i.e., the Institutional Review Board, the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, medical school curriculum committees, or clinical QI or operating room committees), heavier participation in textbook chapter or editorial contributions, and editorial activity on specialty journals. Hopefully, with this continued effort and success will come a regular stream of invitations to speak nationally and even internationally to effectively solidify your reputation as expert in the field.

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Conclusion

There is no one prescription for guaranteed success in academic surgery, but clearly knowing and understanding the requirements for promotion, setting yourself up initially with the necessary resources and mentorship to get started, proactively protecting and organizing your time, and then demonstrating a tenacious work ethic in pursuit of grant funding and manuscript publication will serve you well. Define early what your primary mission in addition to clinical productivity will be – basic science research, clinical research, or education – and then work hard to establish expertise in that area that will satisfy promotion. Several other chapters in this book cover topics (i.e., mentorship, grant and manuscript writing, setting up a research program/research team, time management, and work-life balance) that are intimately linked and synergistic to the material provided here to provide a comprehensive framework for success.

Acknowledgments I would like to acknowledge lectures given at the AAS Fall Courses over the years on topics covered in this chapter by the following surgeons: Drs. Charles Balch, Anees Chagpar, Herbert Chen, N. Joseph Espat, Clark Gamblin, Steven Hughes, James McGinty, George Sarosi, C. Max Schmidt, Sharon Weber, and Stephen Yang.

Selected Readings

Souba WW, Gamelli RL, Lorber MI, et al. Strategies for success in academic surgery. Surgery. 1995;117:90-95.

Thompson RW, Schucker B, Kent KC, et al. Reviving the vascular sur- geon-scientist: an interim assessment of the jointly sponsored Lifeline Foundation/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute William J. von Liebig Mentored Clinical Scientist Development (K08) Program. J Vasc Surg. 2007;45(Suppl):A2-A7.

Baumgartner WA, Tseng EE, DeAngelis CD. Training women surgeons and their academic advancement. Ann Thorac Surg. 2001;71 (2 Suppl):S22-S24.

Klingensmith ME, Anderson KD. Educational scholarship as a route to academic promotion: a depiction of surgical education scholars. Am J Surg. 2006;191:533-537.

Sanfey H. Promotion to professor: a career development resource. Am J Surg. 2010;200:554-557.

Part II

Research: From Conception

to Publication