Surgeon as Basic Bench Scientist: A Play in Three Acts.

There is an ongoing national narrative on the diminishing number of surgeons willing and able to carry out meaningful basic science research as academic surgeons. Various analyses have come to the conclusion that the pressure to be clinically productive has overshadowed individual aspirations to perform bench-level science as a practicing academic surgeon. This review challenges various aspects of this conclusion and offers a path forward to rethink our approach to basic science as performed by practicing surgeons in an academic environment.