Proposal for a British neurosurgical trainee research collaborative

Abstract

High quality research in all surgical specialties is essential for improving patient care and outcome; neurosurgery is not an exception. Trainee collaborative networks have recently attracted considerable interest as they have a number of advantages for trainees and clinical research studies. We believe that neurosurgery represents a unique opportunity for the development of a similar nation-wide trainee research collaborative network. Our view is that this model will produce a sizeable cohort of registrars and consultants who will be actively engaged with collaborative multi-centre research studies, even though they will not necessarily be ‘academic’ neurosurgeons in the strict sense. In turn, this will help to ensure improved care and outcomes for our patients.

Keywords::

• network
• neurosurgery
• research
• trainee

Declaration of interest: The authors declare no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper. A.G. Kolias is supported by a Royal College of Surgeons of England Research Fellowship (funded by the Freemasons and the Rosetrees Trust), an NIHR Academic Clinical Fellowship and a Raymond and Beverly Sackler Studentship. P. J. Hutchinson is supported by an Academy of Medical Sciences/Health Foundation Senior Surgical Scientist Fellowship. P. M. Brennan holds a Clinical Lectureship, Edinburgh Clinical Academic Training Programme.