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Surgical trainee research collaboratives in the UK: an observational study of research activity and publication productivity.

ABSTRACT: OBJECTIVES:To analyse the research activity and publication output of surgical trainee research collaboratives in the UK. SETTING:Surgical trainee research collaboratives in the UK. PARTICIPANTS:A total of 24 collaboratives were included in this study from 33 identified organisations. We excluded one group that focused purely on systematic review of the literature and eight groups for which we could not identify suitable data sources (website or trainee committee contact). PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME:Primary data-points were identified for each collaborative including surgical subspeciality, numbers and types of projects. For published articles, secondary outcomes including study population size, journal impact factor, number of citations and evidence level were collected. RESULTS:A total of 24 collaboratives met our inclusion criteria with a portfolio of 80 projects. The project types included audit (46%), randomised clinical trial (16%), surveys (16%), cohort studies (10%), systematic reviews (2.5%) and other or unidentifiable (9.5%). A total of 35 publications were identified of which just over half (54%) were original research articles. The median size of studied population was 540 patients with a range from 108 to 3138. The published works provided a varied compilation of evidence levels ranging from 1b (individual RCT) to 5 (expert opinion) with a median level of 2b (individual cohort study). The West Midlands Research Collaborative had the highest number of publications (13), citations (130) and h-index (5). CONCLUSIONS:The experience of UK-based trainee research collaboratives provides useful insights for trainees and policymakers in global healthcare systems on the value and feasibility of trainee-driven high quality surgical research.

SUBMITTER: Jamjoom AA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4746473 | biostudies-other | 2016 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Surgical trainee research collaboratives in the UK: an observational study of research activity and publication productivity.

Jamjoom Aimun A B AA Phan Pho N H PN Hutchinson Peter J PJ Kolias Angelos G AG

BMJ open 20160204 2

<h4>Objectives</h4>To analyse the research activity and publication output of surgical trainee research collaboratives in the UK.<h4>Setting</h4>Surgical trainee research collaboratives in the UK.<h4>Participants</h4>A total of 24 collaboratives were included in this study from 33 identified organisations. We excluded one group that focused purely on systematic review of the literature and eight groups for which we could not identify suitable data sources (website or trainee committee contact).< ...[more]

PMID: 26846898

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Project description:ObjectivesThis study aimed to understand the role of surgical Trainee Research Collaboratives (TRCs) in conducting randomised controlled trials and identify strategies to enhance trainee engagement in trials.DesignThis is a mixed methods study. We used observation of TRC meetings, semi-structured interviews and an online survey to explore trainees' motivations for engagement in trials and TRCs, including barriers and facilitators. Interviews were analysed thematically, alongside observation field notes. Survey responses were analysed using descriptive statistics. Strategies to enhance TRCs were developed at a workshop by 13 trial methodologists, surgical trainees, consultants and research nurses.SettingThis study was conducted within a secondary care setting in the UK.ParticipantsThe survey was sent to registered UK surgical trainees. TRC members and linked stakeholders across surgical specialties and UK regions were purposefully sampled for interviews.ResultsWe observed 5 TRC meetings, conducted 32 semi-structured interviews and analysed 73 survey responses. TRCs can mobilise trainees thus gaining wider access to patients. Trainees engaged with TRCs to improve patient care, surgical evidence and to help progress their careers. Trainees valued the TRC infrastructure, research expertise and mentoring. Challenges for trainees included clinical and other priorities, limited time and confidence, and recognition, especially by authorship. Key TRC strategies were consultant support, initial simple rapid studies, transparency of involvement and recognition for trainees (including authorship policies) and working with Clinical Trials Units and research nurses. A 6 min digital story on YouTube disseminated these strategies.ConclusionTrainee surgeons are mostly motivated to engage with trials and TRCs. Trainee engagement in TRCs can be enhanced through building relationships with key stakeholders, maximising multi-disciplinary working and offering training and career development opportunities.

Project description:OBJECTIVES:Applications for surgical training have declined over the last decade, and anecdotally the costs of training at the expense of the surgical trainee are rising. We aimed to quantify the costs surgical trainees are expected to cover for postgraduate training. DESIGN:Prospective, cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study. SETTING/PARTICIPANTS:A non-mandatory online questionnaire for UK-based trainees was distributed nationally. A similar national questionnaire was distributed for Ireland, taking into account differences between the healthcare systems. Only fully completed responses were included. RESULTS:There were 848 and 58 fully completed responses from doctors based in the UK and Ireland, respectively. Medical students in the UK reported a significant increase in debt on graduation by 55% from £17?892 (2000-2004) to £27?655 (2010-2014) (p<0.01). 41% of specialty trainees in the UK indicated that some or all of their study budget was used to fund mandatory regional teaching. By the end of training, a surgical trainee in the UK spends on average £9105 on courses, £5411 on conferences and £4185 on exams, not covered by training budget. Irish trainees report similarly high costs. Most trainees undertake a higher degree during their postgraduate training. The cost of achieving the mandatory requirements for completion of training ranges between £20 000 and £26?000 (dependent on specialty), except oral and maxillofacial surgery, which is considerably higher (£71 431). CONCLUSIONS:Medical students are graduating with significantly larger debt than before. Surgical trainees achieve their educational requirements at substantial personal expenditure. To encourage graduates to pursue and remain in surgical training, urgent action is required to fund the mandatory requirements and annual training costs for completion of training and provide greater transparency to inform doctors of what their postgraduate training costs will be. This is necessary to increase diversity in surgery, reduce debt load and ensure surgery remains a popular career choice.

Project description:BackgroundTrainee research collaboratives (TRCs) have pioneered high quality, prospective 'snap-shot' surgical cohort studies in the UK. Outcomes After Kidney injury in Surgery (OAKS) was the first TRC cohort study to attempt to collect one-year follow-up data. The aims of this study were to evaluate one-year follow-up and data completion rates, and to identify factors associated with improved follow-up rates.MethodsIn this multicentre study, patients undergoing major gastrointestinal surgery were prospectively identified and followed up at one-year following surgery for six clinical outcomes. The primary outcome for this report was the follow-up rate for mortality at 1 year. The secondary outcome was the data completeness rate in those patients who were followed-up. An electronic survey was disseminated to investigators to identify strategies associated with improved follow-up.ResultsOf the 173 centres that collected baseline data, 126 centres registered to participate in one-year follow-up. Overall 62.3% (3482/5585) of patients were followed-up at 1 year; in centres registered to collect one-year outcomes, the follow-up rate was 82.6% (3482/4213). There were no differences in sex, comorbidity, operative urgency, or 7-day postoperative AKI rate between patients who were lost to follow-up and those who were successfully followed-up. In centres registered to collect one-year follow-up outcomes, overall data completeness was 83.1%, with 57.9% (73/126) of centres having ≥95% data completeness. Factors associated with increased likelihood of achieving ≥95% data completeness were total number of patients to be followed-up (77.4% in centres with < 15 patients, 59.0% with 15-29 patients, 51.4% with 30-59 patients, and 36.8% with > 60 patients, p = 0.030), and central versus local storage of patient identifiers (72.5% vs 48.0%, respectively, p = 0.006).ConclusionsTRC methodology can be used to follow-up patients identified in prospective cohort studies at one-year. Follow-up rates are maximized by central storage of patient identifiers.

Dataset Information

Surgical trainee research collaboratives in the UK: an observational study of research activity and publication productivity.

Publications

Surgical trainee research collaboratives in the UK: an observational study of research activity and publication productivity.

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