Fostering Trauma and Emergency Research Capacity in Rwanda Through Collaboration

Current status and future perspectives of collaboration in surgical research: A scoping review of the evidence

BACKGROUND

Surgery is rapidly changing in terms of techniques, education, and methods of conducting research. To keep up with this pace, surgeons have recently focused on collaborative research projects. The aim of this review was to investigate practices for collaborations in surgical research.

METHODS

A scoping review was conducted according to the guidelines proposed by Peters et al. Publications on patterns of collaboration in surgical research between January 2000 and December 2020, irrespective of the study design or language of publication, which were indexed in PubMed, the Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar, were included. A research librarian assisted in choosing the search terms and conducting the search. The very broad nature of the subject necessitated a pragmatic search strategy, with primary focus on reviews about collaboration. A new form of crowd science was used that explored collaborations using social media and online shared documents.

RESULTS

The search identified 38 studies that covered different aspects of collaboration in surgical research. Global, specialist, trainee-/student-led, and patient-led collaboratives are growing in number and size. Implementation of information technologies in surgical collaboration is still limited. The review identified attempts to include researchers from low- and middle-income countries in these collaborations, but these were at the early stages.

CONCLUSION

There are many patterns of collaboration in surgical research. Involvement of low- and middle-income countries will lead to capacity building in these countries, fast recruitment for surgical trials, and more generalizability of trial results. Due to the complex nature of surgical research, implementation of information technologies might improve the quality of research.

Training the Next Generation of Academic Global Neurosurgeons: Experience of the Association of Future African Neurosurgeons

Introduction: Although the past decade has seen a substantial increase in African neurosurgeons' academic productivity, productivity remains low compared to their colleagues from other regions. Aspiring neurosurgeons can contribute to the academic neurosurgery workforce by taking care of less technical and time-consuming research tasks. Fortunately, global neurosurgery institutions have also made efforts to increase research exposure and scholarly output in academic global neurosurgery. The Association of Future African Neurosurgeons (AFAN) created a research incubator for aspiring academic global neurosurgeons in Africa to provide enrollees with mentorship, skills, and experience. This study assesses and reports the activities and results of the research incubator.

Methods: Aspiring academic global neurosurgeons were enrolled in the AFAN Research Incubator Program (ARIP), whose primary objective was to provide enrollees with foundational skills in all aspects of the research cycle. ARIP enrollees participated in didactic and practical activities with the aim of publishing ≥1 article and presenting ≥1 abstracts at international conferences in one year.

Results: Fifteen AFAN members aged 25.0 ± 3.0 years enrolled in ARIP: 7 (46.7%) medical students, 4 (26.7%) general practitioners, and 4 (26.7%) residents. Eleven (73.3%) were male, 6 (40.0%) were from Cameroon and 6 (40.0%) had no previous research experience. Two (13.3%) enrollees dropped out. ARIP enrollees published a total of 28 articles, and enrollees published a median of 1.0 (IQR = 2) first-author articles on neurosurgical system strengthening. Additionally, ARIP enrollees presented 20 abstracts with a median of one abstract (IQR = 3.0).

Conclusion: South-South research collaborations like ARIP can contribute to improving global neurosurgery research capacity and output. These collaborations can set up the foundations for robust research in low- and middle-income countries.