Trauma

Clinical Research

Principles of Surgical Research Courses: Global Dissemination
Report from Mohit Bhandari,
Hamilton, Canada
January 2009

The current culture of evidence-based surgery mandates a fundamental understanding of the principles of surgical research. The paucity of high quality training opportunities for surgeons, surgical trainees and surgical research coordinators poses significant barriers to improving both our understanding of the principles and practice of clinical research.

In partnership with the Osteosynthesis and Trauma Care Foundation, Dr. Mohit Bhandari has led several global research-training courses targeted for surgeons. Courses have spanned the globe from North America, Europe to Asia. With over 2000 attendees worldwide, the "Principles and Practice of Surgical Research" course has gained momentum as a stand-alone resource for surgeons who are interested in developing their skills as clinical researchers.

The course was recently held in Canada (November 2008) with co-chairs, Mohit Bhandari and Emil Schemitsch. The course is the second in a planned annual Canadian research course for surgeons. In 2009, the course will be delivered in Greece, USA, Canada and France.

Most recently, Drs Bhandari and Joensson have edited a textbook:

Clinical Research for Surgeons

This textbook serves as a companion text to the Principles of Research Course.

Clinical Research for Surgeons is a practical guide for understanding, planning, conducting, and evaluating surgical research. It covers the principles of evidence-based surgery, the standard benchmark guiding clinical practice, and applies these principles to the design of suitable research studies. The reader will come to fully understand important concepts such as case-control study, prospective cohort study, randomized trial, and reliability study. The book provides valuable discussions of the critical appraisal of published clinical studies, allowing the reader to learn how to evaluate the quality of such studies with respect to measuring outcomes and to make effective use of all types of evidence in patient care.

Highlights:

• Insights from experienced surgeons and veteran researchers
  
  
• Easy-to-reference text boxes with Key Concepts, Jargon Simplified, and Examples from the Literature
  
  
• Coverage of both open and minimally invasive surgical procedures
  
  
• 105 illustrations demonstrating key points