EP.TU.520ISC0Re Begins: An independent research group for junior doctors

Abstract

Abstract Research is often a difficult component of training for many surgical trainees and junior medical officers (JMOs) wanting to apply for surgical training in Australia. In 2014, we established an independent research group called Institute of Surgical Collaboration for Research (ISCoRe) to develop a research culture amongst surgical trainees and junior medical officers (JMOs). The group was chaired by an unaccredited surgical registrar with a strong interest in surgical research and a general surgeon with a wealth of experience in presentations and publications in an advisory role. Being a small independent research group allows us to work very closely with JMOs and surgical trainees to identify their career interests, coming up with research topics and ideas and guiding the research group members through the process of data collection, analysis, writing up abstracts and submitting abstracts to conferences. We have had a good initial success with the research output from the group, with multiple research abstracts accepted and presented in various international conferences in our first two years of the formation of the group. However, being an independent group does have its disadvantages. The biggest challenges we face involve manpower and financial support. We are hopeful that by training up JMOs who have been with us for one or two years, they will in turn be able to help us guide new group members.