I agree with the principles of 'good doctor first, then a good surgeon and then an academic'.

But, if you do it in this order it's really too late if you actually want an academic position.

And there are real strengths to developing surgically and academically in parallel... https://twitter.com/ShameenJaunoo/status/1353468676234686471

First, as with everything in life, BEing something is pretty irrelevant. It's what you DO that's important.

So question why you want to 'BE' an academic surgeon. Is it just for prestige? (Ego basically). Or to DO something that is uniquely achievable from this position? ...

Academia is two things - creating knowledge (research) and disseminating knowledge (teaching).

Both are important. Both are routes to academic surgery. Most "academic surgeons" will do both.

And "clinical surgeons" can also do both. Very well...

The difference is how much time you have in your week dedicated to research or teaching.

Your track record and the (verifiable) impact of your work is more important than your position...

It's important to be involved in teaching and research throughout your clinical training because:
-you're developing your research/teaching skills
-you're exploring different fields/activities to help decide what you want to do in the future
-you're developing a track record
...

There is real value in clinical audit and research, and getting the results out there. Descriptions of contemporary experience outside of trials, modern practice, areas of learning, routes to performance improvement are all valuable...

Choose something you're interested in (or might become interested in). Something that is important (or might become important).

If asked to do a project, discuss why it is/may be important. So the end product is strong and you get the most out of it.

The key is that your outputs are recorded/verifiable. Otherwise they never happened. There are many places to present (locally, regionally) and publish (journals, web sites). Not everything needs to be in a high-impact journal...

There are three key traits which are helpful to develop in yourself...

1. Be a Completer.

It's really easy to have an idea
It's quite easy to start something
It's very hard to finish it through to write-up & publication.

Being a Completer says a lot about you.

2. Pull yourself up by your bootstraps

You have to improve yourself iteratively.
Your teaching and research has to improve iteratively.
It's more productive to build on your previous work than to jump from subject to subject.

(But you can have several areas of work!)

3. Be in a position that you can say yes to new opportunities.

Your default position should be "Yes". Then, is it a good fit? Can you see it through to completion?

Say no if:
- You've got plenty of other good stuff going
- You have to focus on other areas of life for now