Young Gi angle: How to set up a successful gastroenterology trainee research network – tips for trainees

Introduction

The concept of trainee-led research networks has been gaining momentum for more than a decade, evidenced by the proliferation of regional collaborations in most surgical and medical specialties worldwide. In a survey published earlier this year, 91% of trainees felt that the development of trainee-led research networks was important, with 75% expressing interest with getting involved. ¹ In recent years, a few gastroenterology networks have forged in the UK, with the aim of producing collaborative research. This paper discusses the benefits and implementation strategies involved in forming a trainee research network.

Aim

The aim of trainee-led networks is to deliver high-quality multicentre audits and research projects using a network of trainees rotating between hospitals in the region. It gives trainees an opportunity to become involved in collaborative research and audit, and remain engaged as they move from one hospital to another. Multicentre trainee collaborations help to deliver powerful studies that can have a positive impact on patient care. Such networks allow the undertaking of large-scale research projects or audits aiming to answer clinically relevant questions. Larger projects help produce results that could significantly influence patient care and might be more successful at obtaining grant funding from regional or national organisations. Trainee-led networks also provide the infrastructure for trainees to increase the quality and impact of their audits, turning small local audits into regional and even national projects. In addition, they help trainees to develop team working and leadership skills.

The group

First of all, get a motivated and enthusiastic group of trainees that work well together across a training region. This is the key to success. It would be helpful to have a few core members to drive the group forward (committee). Establish your name, logo, committee, constitution and technological support. Get inspiration and advice from other successful trainee networks. Examples include the West Midlands Research in Gastroenterology Group (WMRIG), ² the Gastroenterology Audit and Research Network (GARNet), ³ the Gastroenterology Trainee Research and Improvement Network North West (GasTRIN NoW), ⁴ Gastro London Investigative Network for Trainees (GLINT), ⁵ West Midlands Trainee Research in Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Network (WMTRAIN) ⁶ or the surgical trainee-led research network called West Midlands Research Collaborative (WMRC). ⁷

Mentor

It is important to have an expert mentor who is enthusiastic and willing to support your group. It is helpful if they have research experience themselves. They should advise and guide you regarding the selection of projects and whether these ideas are feasible. You might want to consider having your mentor(s) at your trainee-network meetings to provide you with feedback.

Meetings

It is essential to plan regular meetings. These should ideally be face-to-face and could take place after the training days (i.e. structured educational events arranged for specialty trainees within a region), aiming to gather most of the trainees at the same time. However, evening meetings after work have been popular as well. How frequently should you meet? In our experience, at least every couple of months, but monthly meetings might be even more helpful to keep the momentum going. You should aim to have a preset agenda to guide the meeting. Regular communication is the key to developing and delivering a successful project. Meetings could be organised via face-to-face meetings, but also by Using Skype, WhatsApp or teleconference calls, especially for the project steering committee might be a good alternative to face-to-face meetings. These may sometimes be the more pragmatic options for networks, which are more spread out geographically. It is also useful to have formal annual meetings and informal meetings at international conferences.

Projects

Try to pick a realistic project to start with, perhaps an audit, which can be retrospective or prospective. This will allow you to get a group together and boost the enthusiasm amongst the trainees, which will help to complete the project. Ideally, the problem investigated should be common enough to allow a decent number of cases to be collected in a short time from every centre in the region. Follow-up periods should not be longer than a few months and data-collection proforma not too complex.

The project selection process should be open to all trainees and performed in a democratic and transparent manner. This could involve a group consensus, ideally at one of the trainee meetings. A submission of a short project proposal to the committee, which will then be considered by both the committee and all trainees, supported by a mentor should be encouraged. The alternative selection process involves the presentation and selection of a project proposal at one of the annual conferences, where trainees vote on the best project ideas presented. Each project should have a steering committee, a regional lead, local representatives at each site acting as the project’s lead and a local trust mentor/consultant overseeing the project. The regional project lead(s) should be responsible for collating and analysing the data, writing a project summary and submitting the data as an abstract for a meeting or a paper. The local mentor’s role is to supervise the project in each hospital. It is not essential to have a local mentor, but they can help make the process of conducting audit/research much easier. Some of the local project mentors were trainees who were involved in our trainee network from the beginning and are now gastroenterology or hepatology consultants.

Funding

How can you fund your research? You can apply for money for your network development via local, regional or international organisations. These funds may be used to cover various costs, for example website development and maintenance, organising meetings and travel costs to promote your research network. Check with your training programme if there are any grants available that can help you to develop your infrastructure. You can ask pharmaceutical companies to help with your research meetings, which count as educational events. With regards to research funding, awards for trainee networks may be available from national societies, for example the British Society of Gastroenterology and United European Gastroenterology. Some funds are available from the pharmaceutical sector (e.g. Dr Falk Pharma) and digestive disorders charities (e.g. Guts UK). ⁸

Members

All specialty trainees in gastroenterology are considered to be members within the trainee-led research network unless they choose otherwise. Encourage people to join, including medical students, junior doctors and colleagues from other specialties. Medical students can successfully contribute to data collection under supervision, gaining experience in audit, research ethics and methodology at the same time.

Committee and a constitution

The Committee should consist of a chair, vice-chair, treasurer, secretary, webmaster and a social media lead, and should include representation from a number of regional hospitals. Writing a constitution can be a good starting point of the trainee collaborative. The sections of the constitution to consider are:

Collaborative aims and structure;

Committee and membership rules;

Committee roles;

Project management regulations;

Project roles;

Authorship rules; and

Committee meeting regulations.

All individuals who contribute to the project should be acknowledged as project collaborators.

Communication and social media

Ensure that the network’s members are kept up to date with network developments; communication needs to be open and transparent through regular emails and meetings. It is extremely important to get yourself visible on social media. Twitter or Facebook are important channels of communication and used to disseminate information rapidly in real time. They allow trainees (and study sponsors) to keep pace with research developments and act as reminders about the meetings. To manage our regional projects, we use emails, phone conferences, WhatsApp and group meetings.

Networking and collaborations

Once you have established a trainee network, creating links with other networks can help to increase your research profile and portfolio. Attending meetings where research studies are discussed can lead to new collaborations and inspire you with new ideas for your own research projects. You might be noticed by successful researchers and invited to collaborate with them. It is also helpful to build up engagement with the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Clinical Research Network by attending local meetings. Raising awareness of clinical research projects amongst peers helps trainees to become involved in portfolio studies and create strong foundations for future collaborations within the specialty.

Conclusion

Trainee research networks provide an excellent mechanism for trainees to collaborate, foster interest in research and learn from one another. These have the potential to deliver high-quality and sufficiently powered studies, which may also benefit the care of our patients.