International Academic Partnerships Research Articles

Critical elements of international academic partnerships in orthopaedic surgery: a modified Delphi approach.

Despite the recent emphasis on promoting international collaborations within orthopaedic surgery, criteria for determining the strengths of such partnerships has not been established. The purpose of this study was to evaluate orthopaedic experts' perceptions of the most valuable characteristics of international academic partnerships. This study was conducted using a modified Delphi methodology. Experts were identified through the Consortium of Orthopaedic Academic Traumatologists (COACT). Responses were collected from February to September 2022. Three rounds of surveys listing possible topics on a 5-point Likert scale were used to develop consensus among a group of experts. Consensus criteria for topic inclusion in the final scale was determined as a rating of "strongly agree" or "agree" by ≥70% of the participants in the third survey. The Round 1 survey was distributed to 96 invited participants within the COACT network, of which 50 experts (52.1%) completed the first survey. Consensus was reached on 54 topics organized into the following 5 categories: Research, Advocacy/Leadership, Training/Surgical Skills, Education/Knowledge Exchange, and Sustainability and Safety (RATES Criteria). Determining the most valuable characteristics of successful international academic partnerships can lead to more sustainable, mutually beneficial collaborations. The criteria identified in this study can provide the foundation for developing new partnerships and assessing existing ones.

Best Practices for Developing International Academic Partnerships in Orthopaedics.

Traumatic and nontraumatic orthopaedic conditions are major contributors to global morbidity and account for the majority of life-years lived with disability worldwide. Additionally, the burden of musculoskeletal injuries has increased substantially over the past 3 decades. Unfortunately, in low and middle-income countries (LMICs), access to orthopaedic care is limited, leading to a disproportionate burden of disease. The Lancet Commission on Global Surgery has emphasized the urgent need for unified international commitment and research collaboration to achieve universal access to safe and affordable surgical care. However, conducting high-quality orthopaedic research in LMICs remains challenging as a result of disparities in training, access to resources, infrastructure, and equipment availability. Partnerships between high-income countries (HICs) and LMICs have emerged in recent decades as an effective approach to combatting some of these challenges. These partnerships aim to bridge the gaps by facilitating collaborative research and knowledge exchange. The establishment of successful partnerships requires a collaborative and reciprocal approach that starts with a clear understanding of mutual research aims and the availability of resources. Despite the potential benefits, various factors can make establishing such partnerships difficult. However, these partnerships can have a substantial impact in delivering quality orthopaedic education and research training, thus improving access to care in resource-limited environments. This paper represents the collaborative effort of multiple international academic orthopaedic surgeons with extensive experience in HIC-LMIC partnerships. Our aims were to outline the best practices for conducting orthopaedic research within these relationships and to provide guidance for future successful collaborations.

Empowering Nursing Students to Adopt and Embody Strengths-Based Nursing and Healthcare.

This paper presents an international academic partnership in teaching and research with two case studies. The cases explore the integration of Strengths-Based Nursing and Healthcare (SBNH) and SBNH-Leadership (SBNH-L) in nursing science programs. SBNH values and foundations were integrated within an undergraduate-level community health course in Canada and SBNH-L was introduced into a graduate-level program in Brazil. Both cases comprise active learning activities promoting the uptake of the values and foundations of SBNH and the capacity to identify strengths and innate capacities. This paper synthesizes the issues and provides recommendations to enhance teaching-learning strategies to support SBNH adoption by students to support the humanization of healthcare. International partnerships in education and research and facilitating factors are discussed.

The Current State of International Academic Partnerships in Orthopaedic Surgery Between High-Income and Low and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review.

Orthopaedic academic partnerships between high-income countries (HICs) and low and middle-income countries (LMICs) are an effective method to increase research and scholarly support. The purpose of this study was to perform a systematic literature review of the current state of partnerships worldwide and assess the quality, quantity, and content of their research output. A systematic review was conducted using 4 academic databases: PubMed, MEDLINE, Embase, and CENTRAL. Article eligibility criteria included articles published between January 2017 and 2022, with orthopaedic authors from at least 1 HIC and LMIC. Articles related to global orthopaedic surgery with exclusively HIC or LMIC authors were excluded. The database search yielded 25,928 articles, and after deduplication, 21,145 articles were included in the screening. After title and abstract screening, 408 articles underwent full-text review for eligibility. The final list of eligible articles for extraction included 310 publications in 127 journals. Published articles increased over time (46 in 2017 to 88 in 2021) and were most commonly published in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (20, 6.5%). Open-access articles (203, 65.5%) had a significantly greater Journal Citation Indicator (p = 0.024) than non-open-access articles. Most studies (40.7%) were observational, with few (3.6%) randomized controlled trials. Orthopaedic trauma (38.1%) was the most common subspecialty, followed by spine (14.8%) and pediatrics (14.2%). Most partnerships were sponsored by North American authors in 65 LMICs, primarily China, India, and the sub-Saharan African region. This study identified 310 articles published by orthopaedic international academic partnerships in 106 countries over the past 5 years, demonstrating that collaborations between LMIC/HIC partners nearly doubled over the study period. Sixty-five percent of the articles were published in open-access journals.

Competitive capabilities of higher education institutions from their Employees' perspectives: A case study of King Khalid University.

This study aimed to uncover the competitive advantages of King Khalid University (KKU) as a higher educational institution and identify the strategies needed to strengthen its competitive stance through a qualitative case study approach. Data were collected via detailed interviews with 30 university staff, comprising 19 faculty members and 11 academic leaders. Following this, the data were qualitatively analyzed using MAXQDA 2022 software. The results showed that KKU has 30 sub-competitive strengths, including work ethics, future vision, academic excellence, creativity, teamwork, respect for intellectual property, continuous customer-focused improvement, a positive workplace environment, organizational trust, and the ability to attract international students. Additionally, the study identified 8 challenges hindering KKU's advancement in global university rankings, spanning academic, human, and administrative areas. To improve its standing in international rankings, thematic analysis revealed 11 strategies to enhance KKU's competitiveness. These include aligning academic programs with job market demands, enhancing research facilities, boosting funding for academic and research endeavors, fostering international academic and scientific partnerships, and upgrading the technological infrastructure for academics and administration. The analysis underscores the need for KKU to adopt a comprehensive suite of academic, human, and administrative strategies to bolster its competitive position. This is crucial for KKU's rise in global university rankings and its alignment with the National Vision 2030, aiming to place over five Saudi universities among the top 100 or 200 globally.

English language proficiency, prior knowledge, and student success in an international Chinese accounting program

International student exchange programs have gained popularity as a means to increase enrollments, support international academic partnerships, and improve student preparedness for globalized work environments. However, the relationships between English language proficiency, cultural intelligence, teamwork, self-efficacy, academic success, and other factors within these programs are not clear. This study investigates the correlations among international accounting students’ English language proficiency, accounting knowledge, and academic performance in a transnational education program in mainland China. Data were obtained from academic records of 104 accounting students enrolled in the program. A quantitative measuring of the Pearson correlation statistical tests were employed to measure the relationships between English language proficiency and academic performance, as well as between previous accounting knowledge and academic success. The results indicate a statistically significant relationship between English language proficiency and academic performance, and between previous accounting knowledge and academic success. This study has significant implications for transnational education programs, academic institutions, and policymakers and provides insights into effective strategies for enhancing the quality of transnational education programs and promoting the internationalization of higher education.

Growth model for international academic medicine partnerships: Qualitative analysis of Ghana postgraduate Ob/Gyn training program.

This study aims to detail the capacity strengthening process of the Ghana Ob/Gyn postgraduate training program in order to inform a model by which international academic medicine partnerships can form, grow, and effectively tackle development challenges. A qualitative analysis with grounded theory methodological approach was utilized. Convenience and purposive sampling were used to select certified Ob/Gyn training program graduates. Interviews were conducted face-to-face in in Accra, Kumasi, Cape Coast, and Tamale, Ghana between June 21 to August 20, 2017. An additional data analysis of 48 semi-structured interviews previously collected for another study were examined for factors pertinent to graduate career development. Coded data were grouped according to themes and subthemes. Emerging themes demonstrated that graduates further complete the maternal care team and facilitate collaboration amongst healthcare workers. Themes also included graduates' pursuit of subspecialty training and research. Graduates cited the training program as key to their professional development. Graduates assume leadership roles in hospital management and operations, teaching, mentoring, interprofessional maternal care team, and knowledge-sharing. Graduates expressed eagerness to subspecialize and to advance their research training and skills. The results suggest a growth model of international academic medicine partnerships from basic obstetric training to advanced training. The model is developed for adaptability in other SSA countries and low-resource settings so that it may effectively strengthen health workforce capacity. We hope that this program can serve as a model for other partnerships in medical specialties.

Implementation of the DPA approach in an intercultural context on the example of the ACTTE project

Due to the emergence of new social problems resulting from weakening pro-integration moods regarding culturally, ethnically, or religiously diverse societies, the Acting in Context by Training the Trainers in Social Empowerment (ACTTE) project was prepared and implemented. The Polish National Agency of Academic Exchange (NAWA) financed the project as part of the International Academic Partnerships program. The project goals were: 1) shaping competencies/skills in the field of DPA (Developing the Power to Act) in organized training participants (NGO employees and academic teachers), 2) developing tools for intervention work based on the concept of Empowerment. Within the training, the research was carried out based on the action research methodology and the use of scaling and uncategorized interview. The article presents the excerpt of the research, which was aimed at determining the changes in the competencies related to the use of the DPA approach in the project’s participants, as well as their subjective understanding of the DPA. The presented research results show the legitimacy of the project implementation by partner institutions, which are universities and non-governmental organizations. The competences and skills acquired by the project participants can be used in academic and environmental work.

Research in Electronic and Mobile Payment Systems: A Bibliometric Analysis

Electronic (mobile) payment systems are an important aspect of e-commerce. However, few reviews highlight the most significant findings and challenges. In this article, we have prepared a bibliometric analysis to provide a statistical overview of previously published research papers on electronic (mobile) payment systems and user preferences, with a particular emphasis on their diverse techniques and analyses, as well as comprehensive and reliable directions to reveal evolutionary nuances and highlighting emerging areas in this specific research. This study reviewed 177 scientific papers published between 2001 and November 2021 in the Web of Science (WoS) database on the subjects of electronic payment systems (EPS) and mobile payment systems (MPS), payment interface (PI), technology acceptance model (TAM), payment frameworks (PF), and user preferences (UP). The amount of studies using the abovementioned topics (EPS, MPS, TAM, PF, and UP) increases annually. Spain, China, and Malaysia are the three main countries that actively participate, and their international academic partnership is relatively close. We have compiled a list of the most relevant publications, prolific authors, institutions, and leading research topics. The articles were used to evaluate bibliometric indicators, analyze research activity, investigate the subject’s evolution, and identify the most interconnected themes. The findings provide a comprehensive overview of existing thematic studies, with a notable rising trend showing the potential for future research in the field. The study provides a guideline for further research.

National Polar Research as a Manifestation of Turkey’s Soft Power

In the global economy of the 21st century, the production of information and technology and the process of its transformation into economic benefit have become the most important parameter in the relative distribution of power among states. Intending to have a larger share of the global economic pie, Turkey has been trying to conduct an efficient public diplomacy process. Turkish Polar Scientific Expeditions and Researches, which are conducted with national and international academic partnerships, are examined in the context of soft power and public diplomacy. The aim of this study is, as a successful public diplomacy case, to present the prospective contributions of these researches to Turkey’s soft power capacity from science diplomacy perspective.

The Global Knowledge Value Chain on Sustainability: Addressing Fragmentations through International Academic Partnerships

While research on universities’ role in sustainability transitions has flourished in recent years, explorations into the potential of academic internationalization for the promotion of sustainability transitions are still rare. This article aims at contributing to this incipient literature by emphasizing an underexplored property of international academic networks and transnational academic cooperation: their potential to break disciplinary and geographical barriers in the global debates on how transitions towards sustainability can be achieved. When realizing this potential, international partnerships are able to provide more comprehensive knowledge to inform sustainability transitions while shaping sustainability transitions in various places at the same time. This article pursues three objectives: First, it introduces the concept of the “global knowledge value chain on sustainability” and explores its value as a heuristic to understand global knowledge production relevant for sustainability transitions. Furthermore, it identifies two fragmentations in this chain resulting from global inequalities and specific dynamics within the global science community. Second, it confirms empirically the fragmentations of this global knowledge value chain on sustainability. Third, it provides good practice ideas on how international academic partnerships can overcome these fragmentations by drawing on the authors’ experience with the international partnership “trAndeS—Postgraduate Program on Social Inequalities and Sustainable Development in the Andean Region” carried out by the Institute of Latin American Studies of Freie Universität Berlin and the Department of Social Sciences of the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Peru (PUCP).

Highly Cited Documents of Ukrainian Scholars in Citation Databases: Correlation of Bibliometric Indicators

The purpose of this work is to review the potential use of scientometric and bibliometric indicators to assess the results of scientific activities and outline current trends and correlations of data and indicators of highly cited documents of Ukrainian authors in leading citation databases. Based on the analysis of selected documents and citations of Ukrainian researchers in three citation databases Dimensions, Scopus, Web of Science Core Collection, as well as taking into account some indicators of Altmetrics and using indicators such as Scopus Citation benchmarking, Plum X Metrics for time period of 2017–2019, this paper highlights the features, trends and correlations of individual indicators for highly cited publications of Ukrainian researchers. There are a number of examples illustrating the study. It was found that the first ten highly cited documents of Ukrainian authors are the work of a large number of co-authors, in particular foreign ones, at the same time there are documents where scientists with Ukrainian affiliation are the main authors; top-list journals are not Ukrainian sources; most Ukrainian-affiliated documents obtained from searches in leading citation databases are published in journals with open access publication model, although the absence of full text and mention of the document on the Internet does not mean the absence of citations, if it is of interest to the scientific community; documents from Ukrainian authorsreceived the most citations in the following fields of knowledge: medical, physical, mathematical, computer and chemical sciences. The authors of this study confirm, in particular, the obtained data correlate between the number of citations and the international academic partnership, access type and type of publication, source and place of publication, etc.

Topographic mapping in the National Spatial Data Infrastructure in Ukraine

The article proposes a new development concept of topographic mapping in Ukraine. It is based on the implementation of a new system model that responds to the geoinformation approach to topographic mapping in the development of national geospatial data infrastructure (NSDI) and provides the creation of geospatial data sets in the form of databases and knowledge bases based on existing standards and specifications: series of international standards ISO 19100 “Geographic information/Geomatics”, Open Geospatial Consortium (OGS), INSPIRE, State Standards of Ukraine (DSTU), Complex of Standards Organization of Ukraine (SOU) “Topographic database”. It provides a high intellectual level of core reference and profile geospatial data, which is capable to provide geoinformation analysis and modeling in modern GIS. In addition, the implementation the infrastructure approach to topographic production and the creation and development of a permanent topographic monitoring system will ensure the publication of geospatial data in real time, almost simultaneously with changes in the terrain, which guarantees the maintenance of a single topographic basis and, accordingly, core reference datasets for NSDI. Publication is funded by the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange under the International Academic Partnerships Programme from the project „Organization of the 9th International Scientific and Technical Conference entitled Environmental Engineering, Photogrammetry, Geoinformatics – Modern Technologies and Development Perspectives”.

Continuing Professional Development status in the World Health Organisation, Afro-region member states

There is evidence of underperformance of the Global Health Indicators, particularly in the WHO Afro-region. Yet, quality, effective healthcare delivery, and access to information about best practice remains a challenge to nurses and midwives in the WHO Afro-region. For nurses and midwives to have the capacity to practice safely and competently they need to engage in mandatory Continuing Professional Development (CPD). However a composite picture is not available for future project planners, researchers, and policy developers. Published literature from the past five years and professional body webpages were searched. The results of shining a light on the WHO Afro-region member states’ CPD status revealed strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The strengths lay in the beginnings of mandatory CPD and annual licensure renewal, while the weaknesses revealed inequity of CPD distribution across the region. The opportunities showed international academic partnership with possibilities for further engagement, and the threats were evident in the health context of the Afro-region, the shortage of nurses and the lesser participation of nurses in CPD programs. The illumination of the CPD status in the Afro-region suggests that a revised CPD landscape is necessary to strengthen the relevance and response capacity of nurses and midwives, as key contributors towards the Global Health Indicators.

Reflections on Health Workforce Development Comment on "Health Professional Training and Capacity Strengthening Through International Academic Partnerships: The First Five Years of the Human Resources for Health Program in Rwanda"

This commentary addresses the statement that "the authors believe that the HRH [Human Resources for Health] Program can serve as a model for other initiatives that seek to address the shortage of qualified health professionals in low-income countries and strengthen the long-term capacity of local academic institutions." I adopt the position of the devil’s advocate and ask whether a country, with a profile comparable to Rwanda’s, should adopt this twinning model. I suggest that the alignment with population and other capacity development needs should be the main criteria of decision.

The Human Resources for Health Program in Rwanda - Reflections on Achievements and Challenges Comment on "Health Professional Training and Capacity Strengthening Through International Academic Partnerships: The First Five Years of the Human Resources for Health Program in Rwanda".

This commentary is a further discussion of a paper published in this journal on the health professional training initiative led by the Government of Rwanda since 2012 and presented as a case study. According to the authors, the partnership program with international academic institutions may serve as model for other countries to address the shortage of health professionals and to strengthen institutional capacity, based on the competencybased and innovative training programs, the numbers of graduates, the improved quality of health services and institution strengthening. However, the conditions may not be as optimal elsewhere. A supportive government policy, massive funding and an academic consortium comprised of 19 United States academic institutions have contributed to the success of the program. We also noted that the trained professionals were clinicians almost exclusively, at the expense of public health specialists and other health professionals who can better address emerging issues such as non-communicable diseases (NCDs) particularly for their prevention, which is now compelling. Among others, the training of more nutritionists as members of the health team is needed.

International academic partnership: Case study in South Africa

Tourism is a very important industry for the economy of South Africa. With the growth of international and domestic visitors, qualified and skilled human resources are increasingly essential to further support the tourism industry. Human capacity development with respect to vocational and managerial education is central to the tourism industry in South Africa. Academic institutions play a crucial role in developing and delivering training and education via short courses, certificate programs, and academic degrees there. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate a multi-year partnership project between the University of Florida in Gainesville, U.S., and Tshwane University of Technology in Tshwane/Pretoria, South Africa. The objectives of the academic partnership are to strengthen teaching, research, service, and faculty development initiatives in tourism management in South Africa. Based on mutually identified objectives, this paper provides a descriptive narrative associated with its execution. The engaged process, progress, and products, inclusive of challenges, offer an established example with respect to developing and sustaining international academic linkages in tourism education.

Epidemiology of Disease and Mortality From a PICU in Mozambique.

Delivery of pediatric critical care in low-income countries is limited by a lack of infrastructure, resources, and providers. Few studies have analyzed the epidemiology of disease associated with a PICU in a low-income country. The aim of this study was to document the primary diagnoses and the associated mortality rates of patients presenting to a tertiary PICU in Mozambique in order to formulate quality improvement projects through an international academic partnership. We hypothesized that the PICU mortality rate would be high and that sepsis would be a common cause of death. Retrospective, observational study. Tertiary academic PICU. All admitted PICU patients. All available data collection forms containing demographic and clinical data of patients admitted to the PICU at Hospital Central de Maputo, Mozambique from January 2013 to December 2013 were analyzed retrospectively. The patient median age was 2 years (57% male). The most common primary diagnoses were malaria (22%), sepsis (18%), respiratory tract infections (12%), and trauma (6%). The mortality rate was 25%. Mortality rates were highest among patients with sepsis (59%), encephalopathy (56%), noninfectious CNS pathologies (33%), neoplastic diseases (33%), meningitis/encephalitis (29%), burns (26%), and cardiovascular pathologies (26%). The median length of PICU stay was 2 days. HIV exposure/infection had a nonstatistically significant association with mortality. Patients admitted for burns had the highest median length of PICU stay (4 d). Most trauma admissions were male (75%), and approximately half of all trauma admissions had an associated head injury (55%). Infectious disease and trauma were highly represented in this Mozambican PICU, and overall mortality was high compared with high-income countries. With this knowledge, targeted collaborative projects in Mozambique can now be created and modified. Further research is needed to monitor the potential benefits of such interventions.

Practical Guide to Delivering Surgical Skills Courses in a Low-Income Country: Knowledge Gained From a Surgical Education Partnership in Haiti.

Routine surgical skills training is known to advance a surgeon's technical proficiency. However, orthopaedic providers in low-income countries have limited access to skills training programs. International academic partnerships can augment locally available orthopaedic education, improving the quality of and capacity to deliver orthopaedic care in low-income countries. The objective of this study is to provide a practical guide to delivering an orthopaedic skills training course in a low-resource setting. The information provided is based on the experiences of the authors, along with specific feedback from previous course participants in Haiti.

Health Professional Training and Capacity Strengthening Through International Academic Partnerships: The First Five Years of the Human Resources for Health Program in Rwanda.

Background: The Rwanda Human Resources for Health Program (HRH Program) is a 7-year (2012-2019) health professional training initiative led by the Government of Rwanda with the goals of training a large, diverse, and competent health workforce and strengthening the capacity of academic institutions in Rwanda. Methods: The data for this organizational case study was collected through official reports from the Rwanda Ministry of Health (MoH) and 22 participating US academic institutions, databases from the MoH and the College of Medicine and Health Sciences (CMHS) in Rwanda, and surveys completed by the co-authors. Results: In the first 5 years of the HRH Program, a consortium of US academic institutions has deployed an average of 99 visiting faculty per year to support 22 training programs, which are on track to graduate almost 4600 students by 2019. The HRH Program has also built capacity within the CMHS by promoting the recruitment of Rwandan faculty and the establishment of additional partnerships and collaborations with the US academic institutions. Conclusion: The milestones achieved by the HRH Program have been substantial although some challenges persist. These challenges include adequately supporting the visiting faculty; pairing them with Rwandan faculty (twinning); ensuring strong communication and coordination among stakeholders; addressing mismatches in priorities between donors and implementers; the execution of a sustainability strategy; and the decision by one of the donors not to renew funding beyond March 2017. Over the next 2 academic years, it is critical for the sustainability of the 22 training programs supported by the HRH Program that the health-related Schools at the CMHS significantly scale up recruitment of new Rwandan faculty. The HRH Program can serve as a model for other training initiatives implemented in countries affected by a severe shortage of health professionals.