Session Design Submission Review

Yes

• CoSEF
• Surgical Education Research

Multi-institutional research collaborations bring together diverse institutions with varying geographic locations, institutional cultures, clinical practices (academic, community hospital based, or hybrid), and research backgrounds. These collaborations play a pivotal role in fostering more inclusive research. Such collaborative research helps overcome limitations of individual institutions, leading to more inclusive, comprehensive, generalizable, and impactful findings. 

Early career researchers and educators often face challenges when it comes to initiating and navigating multi-institutional research and collaborations. Despite the growing recognition of the benefits of such collaborations, these researchers frequently lack the necessary skills and experience to engage effectively in multi-institutional projects. This gap highlights the need for targeted training and support for early career researchers, which is the primary focus of this panel. The ASE’s report on priorities identified several barriers in multi-institutional surgical education research, and this panel aims to address those issues as outlined below.

Outline:

At the beginning of the panel, we will briefly highlight how multi-institutional research inherently promotes diversity by incorporating a wider array of study populations and involving contributors from various geographic locations, institutional cultures, backgrounds, and professional stages. To empower early career researchers to engage in multi-institutional research, the panel will focus on five barriers to conducting multi-institutional research: finding collaborators, funding and resources; institutional review board (IRB) coordination; rigor, institutional cultures, and practice variability; time constraints and communication; and authorship and recognition. We will discuss how ASE can assist in overcoming these challenges and explore how inclusive mentorship can further empower early career researchers and transform the way multi-institutional research is conducted. These barriers are derived from a prior ASE report on priorities in multi-institutional surgical education research. 

The panel will convene experts in these areas, including three faculty members and two CoSEF resident members. We will begin with brief introductions of the panelists, followed by a five-minute overview from each expert on their respective topics. We will provide guiding questions for these introductory remarks specific to each barrier. For example, we will ask the panelist focusing on IRB coordination to address the broad IRB requirements for multi-institutional education research, how requirements differ based on study design or institution, approaches to add outside researchers to a primary institution’s IRB, and when it is necessary for all individual sites to go through IRB review. Following the statements by each panelist, the audience and moderator will ask questions. The moderator will explore specific panelist’s responses and will address issues relevant to multiple panelist’s topics.

Sponsors: 

The Collaboration of Surgical Education Fellows (CoSEF) is a multi-institutional collective of surgical residents focused on education research. CoSEF fosters inclusion through peer mentorship and resident-led research, addressing challenges in surgical education. Since its inception, CoSEF has facilitated multi-institutional research on topics such as virtual interviews, intern year challenges, the match process, gossip in residency, paths to leadership, and implicit bias. CoSEF’s success in inclusive research and multi-institutional projects makes us well-positioned to moderate this panel. Similarly, the Surgical Education Research Committee (SERC) supports multi-institutional research, providing grant support and facilitating collaboration and mentorship.

Identify common barriers to conducting multi-institutional education research

Recognize opportunities for collaboration and mentorship within ASE and elsewhere to overcome such barriers

Evaluate the strengths and limitations of multi-institutional surgical education research

Formulate strategies to initiate, complete, and report high-quality multi-institutional education research