Educational content from recorded physician discussions — not medical advice. Always talk to your child's care team about your child's situation.
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The vast majority of what we do in surgery is anecdotal, done because we were taught that way by our leaders, though there is an immense push towards evidence-based medicine. Choosing a clinical science and teaching career in academic medicine · 19:49
Choosing a clinical science and teaching career in academic medicine
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Presented by Daniel Ostlie, MD at the Department of Surgery Grand Rounds on 09/26/2012.
Free CME may be available on the Deparment of Surgery website below after watching this video and completing a short course evaluation.
http://www.sur
video52:00 · Oct 2026
Ghost publications in the pediatric surgery match
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Introduction: Pediatric surgery fellowship is considered one of the most competitive subspecialties in medicine. With fierce competition increasing the stakes, publications and first authorship are paramount to the success rate of matching.
article · Oct 2026
Analysis of the pediatric surgery match: factors predicting outcome
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Introduction: Applicants in the NRMP for pediatric surgery have little objective data available regarding factors predicting successful matching. We analyzed data from applicants at our institution to attempt to identify parameters correlat
article · Oct 2026
Mentorship in pediatric surgery: A need for structure?
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Introduction: Mentorship in surgical training is critical but differs greatly from the early apprenticeship model and often spans generations. This study evaluates the current state of and desire for structured mentorship in pediatric surgi
article · Oct 2026
Financial impact of in-house attending surgeon: a prospective study
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Background: Current work hour restrictions have required some programs to have staff surgeons cover in-house call. Other programs have considered in-house staff coverage at night for the billable tasks performed during these hours. However,
article · Oct 2026
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Expert statements from the recordings in this collection.
Choosing a clinical science and teaching career in academic medicine
The NIH defines clinical science as the practical study of medical principles or investigations that are used to controlled procedure to evaluate results, and it must include clinical research.
Host summaryThe host summarizing the discussion — not the host's own clinical position2:30 ↗
Clinical research is a branch of medical science that determines the safety, effectiveness of medications, devices, diagnostic products, and treatment regimens intended for human use, and by definition involves human patients.
Host summaryThe host summarizing the discussion — not the host's own clinical position2:53 ↗
Clinical trials involve human subjects and are designed to follow a specific timeline, with the best clinical trials following a prospective timeline where the question is asked upfront, the trial is designed, and data is collected prospectively.
Host summaryThe host summarizing the discussion — not the host's own clinical position3:32 ↗
Clinical trials are carried out using specific protocols that adhere to accepted standards, with IRB requirements being an important component.
guideline4:02 ↗
Teaching a fellow is much different than teaching a second year resident, and teaching expectations are defined by the institution and are specialty dependent.
opinion5:06 ↗
Faculty appointments and promotion expectations vary significantly between institutions, with some requiring progression from assistant to associate professor within seven years or requiring the faculty member to move on.
clinical6:38 ↗
Mentorship has a two-phase approach: identifying a mentor to help you mature, and learning how to become a mentor yourself so you can mentor others.
opinion8:22 ↗
When designing a clinical research question, pick an easy question that you can answer early in your career, such as whether an open pyloromyotomy is better than a laparoscopic pyloromyotomy.
opinion10:00 ↗
Statistical analysis can be complex; for example, calculating pain scores requires different statistical approaches than length of stay because two is not exactly twice one on a pain scale.
clinical12:09 ↗
There is a home for every manuscript someplace; if a manuscript does not get accepted to one journal, submit it to the next journal rather than giving up.
opinion13:20 ↗
Junior faculty members need time for maturity and should not expect to teach fellows or residents like someone who has been out for 20 years; it is acceptable to step back and perform operations yourself when not comfortable with teaching situations.
opinion14:55 ↗
There is a direct relationship between operating room management and outcomes; developing a calm demeanor and team-oriented environment where nurses feel comfortable raising concerns is important.
opinion16:30 ↗
If you do not have any patients in M&M, you are not really doing cases that are pushing the envelope and trying to make people better; the goal is to limit failures and limit how bad the failures are.
opinion17:46 ↗
Focusing on critical care during training allows surgeons to have complete interactions with separate subsets of people, such as neonatologists, and discuss processes intelligently, which is important for studying processes involving two different disciplines.
opinion18:36 ↗
The vast majority of what we do in surgery is anecdotal, done because we were taught that way by our leaders, though there is an immense push towards evidence-based medicine.
opinion19:49 ↗
In clinical research, the entire system has to be in place for a randomized controlled trial, meaning lab techs, nurses, anesthesiologists, patients, families, and radiology all need to know about the trial, or it will not work well or will take a long time.
clinical21:18 ↗
When starting early in a clinical research career, try to limit interactions with other departments because you will not have the background to be successful with complex interdepartmental collaborations.
opinion21:43 ↗
TPA is beneficial in treating pediatric empyema; children with empyema are better off getting a chest tube and TPA than VATS, with this being a grade 1A recommendation shown in two trials in two different countries.
Host summaryThe host summarizing the discussion — not the host's own clinical position22:13 ↗
The IRB is trying to protect researchers and the institution, not obstruct research; developing a strong relationship with the IRB and avoiding a 'cops and robbers' mentality is important.
opinion24:49 ↗
The biggest error in over 1500 patients in randomized controlled trials is consent errors, including consenting people with old consents, improper dating, or having someone without custody sign consent for children.
clinical25:14 ↗
Epic EMR is a data mine with valuable tools for clinical research, compared to Cerner which has fewer data mining capabilities.
opinion26:59 ↗
For the irrigation versus no irrigation trial for perforated appendicitis, patients were enrolled in both the single incision laparoscopic appendectomy versus three port trial and the irrigation trial because perforation status was unknown until the operation started.
clinical28:40 ↗
When managing multiple randomized controlled trials (15 randomized and 15 retrospective trials), a study coordinator is needed to handle IRB administrative tasks because the primary investigator cannot do that and still be a clinician.
opinion30:45 ↗
If you are going to be in a bigger faculty group, make sure what you are going into is sustainable; avoid being the youngest person in a group where everyone else is over 57 years old because in five to six years all those people will be gone and you will be tasked with taking care of and building a practice while still in the infancy of your career.
opinion35:21 ↗
Perforated appendicitis should be defined as either seeing a hole in the appendix or stool in the abdomen; if neither is present, it is acute appendicitis and abscess rates are no different than for simple appendicitis.
clinical36:37 ↗
If you have a fever over 38.5 degrees on day two after perforated appendicitis, you have an 80% chance of developing an abscess.
clinical38:16 ↗
The recurrence rates for congenital diaphragmatic hernia are about 50% if you have to use a patch.
Host summaryThe host summarizing the discussion — not the host's own clinical position39:40 ↗
It is an error in judgment to design a trial that will take five years to answer a question about rapidly changing technology (like surgical patches) because the question will not be clinically relevant in five years.
opinion41:03 ↗
Necrotizing enterocolitis treatment currently occurs when the house is burning down; the goal should be finding how to stop the fire before it happens.
opinion41:37 ↗
Based on literature review of 60 randomized controlled trials in pediatric surgery that documented enrollment time, the average enrollment period is 33 months.
Host summaryThe host summarizing the discussion — not the host's own clinical position46:49 ↗
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