18 The Rise in Trauma & Orthopaedic Trainee-Led Research and Audit Collaborative Projects in the United Kingdom Since the Start of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Abstract Introduction There has been a significant rise in trainee-led trauma & orthopaedic (T&O) multi-centre research collaborative projects globally. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, more emphasis has been on global collaborative research efforts to tackle important research questions. The aim was to evaluate the number of T&O trainee-led research collaborative projects that took part since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK. Method A retrospective study that evaluated T&O trainee-led national collaborative projects within the UK since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown (March 2020 to June 2021). Our exclusion criteria included any regional collaborative projects, projects that were started pre-COVID and projects of other surgical specialities. The number of projects identified was compared to that in 2019. Results In 2019, 0 trainee-led collaborative projects were commenced nationally in the UK. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, we identified 10 trainee-led collaborative trauma & orthopaedic projects with 3 being published so far. The level of evidence ranged between 3 and 4. Conclusions Covid has placed significant challenges across healthcare. One positive aspect that has been noted is the increase in multi-centre trainee-led collaborative projects within the UK. Our study highlights the feasibility of a trainee-led high quality collaborative research projects in the UK, emphasising the growing contribution of trainees towards research. Wide-spread availability of new technological tools such as social media and Redcap® facilitates such projects in terms of recruitment and data collection. We would, therefore, recommend expanding this trainee-led collaborative platform across in Europe and Worldwide.