NIHR first think tank for trainee Research networks
Role of Royal college
In the Royal charter there is a commitment to research and the College is now addressing this issue which has falling along the wayside.
There is now an academic committee which aims to promote academic education and research for all ophthalmologists. The plan is to embed research into the curriculum. The GMC guidelines state that doctors in Training must demonstrate working with evidence and be able to critically appraise literature. Does this require the necessity for GCP for CCT. This has happened in other specialities including orthopaedics and plastic surgery, and it is currently under consideration by the College. It is not understood clearly by most clinicians that the handling of data outside of normal clinical practice requires GCP. This includes audit and case reviews. Therefore every clinician needs to be GCP trained to work within the recommended framework.
The College are collaborating with NIHR to establish a trainee research network. The trainee research network group aims to provide support and advice to further trainee led research projects and bring them to fruition. The ultimate aim is that a network will be established in each deanery.
There are networks established in a number of deaneries and their structure can vary. Essentially the best scenario is that every trainee in the deanery is a member of the network. The Network is then steered by a committee, made up of trainees with the consultants. It is suggested that the group meets regularly to discuss and identify research projects and how viable studies can be established. The regional network can also approach other trainee networks throughout the UK which has the potential to create valuable and powerful research projects and outcomes.
Examples of how well this system can work can be seen in Anaesthetics and Surgery where such networks are now well established following a complete overhaul of how research is viewed in these communities. The quality of UK research in these areas has gone from questionable anecdotal and case series report to high quality internationally recognised projects. In fact the UK plastic surgery research network model has been recognised and suggested for adoption in the USA.
This model does require some adjustment of our own expectations and understanding of what ownership and authorship of a project entail. The future of clinical research is moving away from the “first author” style of ownership to a more collaborative approach. This enables large numbers of contributors to be involved in project delivery and publication under an umbrella name. Each contributor will be named at the end of the paper and will be recognised on a pubmed search. This allows motivation for contributors to become involved. This involvement can be something as simple as data collection within a clinical setting. It is akin to research crowd funding.
The national research network also helps in the development of our understanding of what is involved in bringing an idea to a practical conclusion. Meetings and think tanks such as this can highlight resources available of which we may not be aware.
One example of this is the Cochrane eyes and vision group. CEVG is a hugely valuable tool in providing systematic reviews in the field of ophthalmology and should be one of the first ports of call in when we are trying to establish if a clinical question we may have has already been asked and answered and hence saving a lot of time and energy. However they are not simply the custodians of these valuable projects. They are also keen to promote and aid in carrying out systematic reviews these are valuable pieces of research in their own right. Any ideas for a review can be discussed with them and they can support you through the whole process. They have a number of web based free resources and I suggest that this area could be better covered in a dedicated session.
Another example is the Research Design Service who can help at every step of the way in the delivery of the project and funding applications. However at present this is an England only service and is still developing. There should be an equivalent in Wales, and I need to establish exactly what this is.
There is an Ophthalmology statistics group who are a national group of medical statisticians who have an interest in ophthalmology and to who questions can be posed on an online basis. Their aim is to raise the quality of statistics on ophthalmic publications. They have published a series of statistical notes in BJO which aim to explain statistical theory to ophthalmologists. There is also a NIHR statistics group, of which there is a ophthalmology sub group and again could be a hugely valuable resource that can be used to improve the quality of statistics in projects.
The first step in establishing a Wales Trainee Research network is having a discussion about it amongst our trainees and trainers. We need to commence a dialogue and hopefully this will be the first step in establishing a quality research environment that we can be proud of.
Rhiannon Reynolds, OST Wales