Abstract
In 2007, the first trainee-led surgical research network was founded in the United
Kingdom (UK). The West Midlands Research Collaborative was started by a group of enthusiastic
adult surgical trainees who saw the benefits of altruistic collaboration to generate
high quality, multicenter research. Seeing the success of their research projects,
including randomized controlled trials, trainees in other regions and specialties
were spurred on to founding their own research collaboratives. The Pediatric Surgical
Trainee Research Network was started in 2011 by a group of UK trainees with the aim
to promote, facilitate, and encourage trainee-led research in pediatric surgery. This
article summarizes the history and evolution of the trainee collaborative surgical
research. It examines the challenges which multicenter research entails and the steps
the collaboratives have taken to overcome them. We describe some of the projects which
have been successfully completed and the benefits that the trainee networks have for
patients and surgeons alike.
Keywords
surgical research - research network - clinical research - pediatric surgery
