ArticleTrauma surgery & acute care open2023
Feeling like an imposter: are surgeons holding themselves back?
Article in Trauma surgery & acute care open, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 23 citations in OpenAlex.
- Surgeon's imposter syndrome: a systematic review.Langenbeck's archives of surgery · 2025Pooled it
- Supporting doctors' professional identity development through specialist training.Anatomical sciences education · 2026Article
- Examining the role of social support in imposter phenomenon among medical students through mediation and moderation analysis of anxiety and stress.Discover mental health · 2025Article
- Article
- Review
- Imposter Phenomenon, Burnout, and Suicidal Ideation Among Orthopaedic Surgery Residents.Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. Global research & reviews · 2025Article
- The impostor phenomenon among surgeons and surgeons in training: a scoping review.BMC medical education · 2025Article
- Exploring constructions of female surgeons' intersecting identities and their impacts: a qualitative interview study with clinicians and patients in Ireland and Scotland.Frontiers in medicine · 2024Article
- Can we learn to recover? Surgeon wellness in a challenging environment.Canadian journal of surgery. Journal canadien de chirurgieArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors at 6 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Imposter syndrome is a psychological phenomenon where people doubt their achievements and have a persistent internalized fear of being exposed as a fraud, even when there is little evidence to support these thought processes. It typically occurs among high performers who are unable to internalize and accept their success. This phenomenon is not recognized as an official mental health diagnosis in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition; however, mental health professionals recognize it as a form of intellectual self-doubt. It has been reported that imposter syndrome is predominant in the high-stakes and evaluative culture of medicine, where healthcare workers are frequently agonized by feelings of worthlessness and incompetence. Imposter syndrome can lead to a variety of negative effects. These can include difficulty concentrating, decreased confidence, burnout, anxiety, stress, depression, and feelings of inadequacy. This article will discuss the prevalence of imposter syndrome among surgeons, its associated contributing factors, the effects it can have, and potential strategies for managing it. The recommended strategies to address imposter syndrome are based on the authors' opinions.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.