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Are We Losing Our Grip on Academic Hand Surgery?
Kashyap Komarraju Tadisina BS, Grzegorz Kwiecien MD, Rafael A. Couto MD, Grigorios Lamaris MD, James E. Zins, MD, Michael Matthew MD
Cleveland Clinic
2015-03-15
Presenter: Kashyap Tadisina
Affidavit:
This abstract has not been published in any scientific journal or previously presented at a major meeting. The work on this project represents the original work of the authors.
Director Name: Steven Bernard
Author Category: Medical Student
Presentation Category: Clinical
Abstract Category: Hand
Introduction:Hand surgery training happens in general, plastic, and orthopedic surgery departments, with differing case/practice patterns. Further, there is a belief that plastic surgeons practice hand surgery when the economy is unfavorable. How this affects academic productivity in hand surgery is not clear. The goal of this study is to analyze the hand literature to see which specialties are the most academically productive and if there are any correlations to the stock market.
Methods:The top fifty cited articles in hand surgery for each decade from 1970s-2010s were identified using the Thomson/Reuters Web of Knowledge. Data collected included: total citations, primary author specialty affiliation (Plastic/Orthopedic/General/Hand/other/not reported), and journal specialty affiliation. Data trends were analyzed. Pearson correlation coefficient was used to examine the relationship between Author/Journal affiliation and stock market indices.
Results:In first authorship, plastic surgery had the highest proportion in the 1970s/1980s, with orthopedics producing the highest proportion subsequently. Orthopedic journals were the most common publication platform in the 1970s, with hand journals leading subsequently. There were trends toward strong inverse correlation between rising stock market index and plastics journal affiliation (r=-0.79; p=0.11) and strong positive correlation between rising indices and orthopedic author affiliation (r=0.80; p=0.11).
Conclusion:Plastic surgeons and plastic surgery journals have declined in their presence in academic hand surgery. The literature also reflects the growth of hand surgery as its own discipline. If our goal is to continue including hand surgery as part of the repertoire of a plastic surgeon, we must continue to strive for high quality academic productivity.
