Association for Academic Surgery (AAS)

Inspiring and Developing Young Academic Surgeons

Follow The money?

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Starting residency, I knew that my academic CV was meager and I humbly accepted that I would probably need to do research. But my exposure up until this point included a few chart reviews and killing rats in college. It seemed like everyone else knew how to prepare for their research time and wasn’t just skipping over the methods sections of papers. I had some clear research interests and I was lucky enough to find a mentor who helped me to learn how to think like a scientist. There was just one issue left, I would need to find funding for my salary, Masters Degree, and research itself. The adage of “follow the money,” is mostly true, and in many ways is a far more realistic version of academic medicine. Finding a way to convince others of why they should invest in your research aspirations takes a fair bit of time and energy. This seemed daunting, but now that I am on the other side, I am so grateful for this experience.

There are several reasons why you should consider applying for a research grant as a resident:

  1. Exposure to the grant-writing process. There is definitely a secret handshake.
  2. Discernment. If you are committed to becoming a lifelong surgeon-scientist, you need to know what this process feels like. This is a big part of a scientist’s career.
  3. Define your research aims and training goals. There is no better way to elucidate your research question, than to write it out formally. You will understand your science so much better and your two years of academic development time will be far more productive if you have a clear plan ahead of time.
  4. Prestige. Getting a grant is a big deal!

The AAS Clinical and Health Services Research Committee realized that there was not a comprehensive resource for finding research opportunities. We hope this Research Primer serves as a starting point and framework to better understand which grant mechanisms are available to you and how to explore them. Additionally, as resident members, we organized the various mechanisms, such as federal post-doctoral research fellowships and societal grants like the AAS/AASF Trainee Research Fellowship Awards. These are presented along with their deadlines, specific funding details, and timing of grant. This is a working document, and we welcome your feedback.

Stephanie T Lumpkin MD MSCR

Stephanie T Lumpkin MD MSCR

Dr. Stephanie T Lumpkin is a fifth year general surgery resident at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is currently a postdoctoral research fellow. Her research is funded by both the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons General Surgery Resident Research Initiation Grant and the Agency of Healthcare Research and Quality F32 Postdoctoral Fellowship. Her primary research is a mixed methods study examining post discharge healthcare utilization after colorectal surgery. Additionally, Dr. Lumpkin enjoys hiking, healthy cooking, and traveling with her husband and two young children.
Stephanie T Lumpkin MD MSCR

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Karan Chhabra, MD MSc

Karan Chhabra, MD MSc

Karan Chhabra, MD MSc (@krchhabra) is a general surgery resident at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He recently completed his research training in the National Clinician Scholars Program at the University of Michigan’s Center for Healthcare Outcomes and Policy (CHOP), where he studied the affordability of surgical care for commercially insured patients.
Karan Chhabra, MD MSc

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About Stephanie T Lumpkin MD MSCR

Dr. Stephanie T Lumpkin is a fifth year general surgery resident at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is currently a postdoctoral research fellow. Her research is funded by both the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons General Surgery Resident Research Initiation Grant and the Agency of Healthcare Research and Quality F32 Postdoctoral Fellowship. Her primary research is a mixed methods study examining post discharge healthcare utilization after colorectal surgery. Additionally, Dr. Lumpkin enjoys hiking, healthy cooking, and traveling with her husband and two young children.