AB001. SOH23ABS_046. Attitudes and perceived barriers to undertaking research among surgical trainees
Urology/Gynaecology/Video Session

AB001. SOH23ABS_046. Attitudes and perceived barriers to undertaking research among surgical trainees

Laura Finnegan1, Lorraine Scanlon1, Rustom Manecksha2, Derek Hennessey1

1Department of Urology, Mercy University Hospital, Grenville Place, Cork, Ireland; 2Department of Urology, Tallaght University Hospital, Tallaght University Hospital, Dublin, Ireland

Background: Clinical research is essential for evidence-based medicine and is an integral part of medical and surgical training both at an undergraduate and postgraduate level. Despite mandatory requirements for undertaking and publishing research as part of surgical training in Ireland, producing high quality, multi-centre clinical research is a challenge for trainees. We explore the attitudes and perceived barriers to undertaking research among surgical trainees.

Methods: A 10-point questionnaire was compiled and distributed to surgical trainees in Ireland (ST2-8) to assess the attitudes and perceived barriers to undertaking clinical research. Results were combined and analysed.

Results: A total of 43 surgical trainees completed the questionnaire. Only 6 (14%) trainees had published >5 1st author publications, 25.6% (n=11) had 3–5 publications. 72.1% (n=31) of trainees selected certificate of completion of specialist training (CCST)/training requirements as a reason for undertaking research, 55.8% (n=24) selected professional enhancement, 41.9% (n=18) selected obligation, while only 37.2% (n=16) selected self -interest. 90.7% (n=39) of trainees selected time constraints as a barrier to undertaking research, 58.1% (n=25) stated lack of access to patient databases and 51.2% (n=22) stated inadequate statistical support. Only 39.5% (n=17) of trainees had undertaken in a large scale/multicentre research project, while 30.3% (n=13) of trainees were involved in an international research project.

Conclusions: The most common reasons for undertaking research among surgical trainees include CCST/training requirements, professional enhancement, and obligation. Most trainees highlight multiple barriers to undertaking research, most commonly time constraints, inadequate statistical skills/support and demoralising interactions with ethics and university authorities. Overall, many changes are required to encourage and support high quality clinical research among surgical trainees in Ireland.

Keywords: Research; surgical training; attitudes; barriers; training

Acknowledgments

Funding: None.

Footnote

Conflicts of Interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Ethical Statement: The authors are accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Open Access Statement: This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), which permits the non-commercial replication and distribution of the article with the strict proviso that no changes or edits are made and the original work is properly cited (including links to both the formal publication through the relevant DOI and the license). See: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.

doi: 10.21037/map-23-ab001
Cite this abstract as: Finnegan L, Scanlon L, Manecksha R, Hennessey D. AB001. SOH23ABS_046. Attitudes and perceived barriers to undertaking research among surgical trainees. Mesentery Peritoneum 2023;7:AB001.

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