Crossing Between Clinical Work and Scholarly Publishing: Early-Career Neurosurgeons as Clinician-Researchers

Medical professionals who assume multiple roles as clinicians and researchers are commonly found in hospitals worldwide. Likewise, in many Chinese hospitals, particularly among early-career medical professionals with MD and PhD degrees, active engagement in both clinical practice and scientific research is expected. In the current ethnographic study, the cultural-historical activity theory is used to explore how three early-career neurosurgeons at a tier-one northern Chinese hospital conduct and write research for publishing in Science Citation Index (SCI)-indexed journals in addition to handling their heavy clinical workload. Drawing on multiple sources of qualitative data, including semi-structured interviews, two-week naturalistic observations, field notes, photographs, and daily activity logs with three neurosurgeons, the study findings highlight Chinese neurosurgeons conduct and write up their research using patient data and collaborating with laboratories while seeking academic language editing and peer feedback. Ethical considerations of clinician-researchers’ scholarly publishing process, implications for researching medical professionals’ boundary crossings, and future research directions are also discussed.