Developing a sustainable approach to research capacity building for the Queensland Branch, Australasian Faculty Rehabilitation Medicine (AFRM)

About the Project

The Queensland Branch of AFRM is leading a study to strengthen the research capacity of AFRM physicians and trainees. The study team successfully competed for an Education Development Grant from the Royal Australian College of Physicians (RACP). The 12-month project is a partnership between the Queensland Branch of AFRM and The Hopkins Centre, Griffith University, and will be completed by 30 June 2025.

The idea for the project was developed by Dr Teresa Boyle, Rehabilitation medicine physician and staff specialist at the Gold Coast University Hospital and Chair of the Queensland Branch of the AFRM along with Hopkins Centre researchers Prof Tim Geraghty and Dr Letty Burridge and followed discussions at the 2024 AFRM Advanced Trainee Welcome Evening on 14th March 2024, where Prof Geraghty presented on the topic of “Getting Started in Research: Plotting the course from a researchable question to a research protocol”. 

Rehabilitation medicine physicians and trainees have high-level clinical skills and expertise, but research activity may be inhibited by time pressures and insufficient experience and skills.  Recent local research confirmed this, also finding a gap  between high research interest and low research capacity. Many Queensland rehabilitation medicine physicians and trainees are either not engaged in relevant research, or unaware of resources available to support them. This Education Development Grant will be used to develop research capacity building education program for AFRM Queensland Branch advanced trainees. It is hoped that it will be a building block towards the longer term aim of substantially increased research participation and productivity within the specialty in Queensland. The funding will enable an existing Hopkins Centre Research Fellow experienced in research capacity building activities to work specifically on this project. The project will be supported by the Queensland AFRM committee, research-interested specialists in Rehabilitation medicine training sites, and Hopkins Centre researchers who will all provide their time in-kind. 

The proposed initiative will be primarily directed towards AFRM Queensland Branch advanced trainees and comprise a targeted survey to better understand:

• Needs and opportunities,
• Integration of existing self-directed online learning packages,
• Tailored educational workshops,
• Lectures embedded in Queensland branch teaching curriculum,
• Formation of a Rehabilitation Medicine Research Support Special Interest Group (SIG) and
• The compilation of a Rehabilitation Research Supervisor State-wide Register.

Parallel initiatives will include incentivising excellence in research through awards and prizes, and strengthening collaboration between the Queensland Branch and external stakeholders such as The Hopkins Centre and the Australasian Rehabilitation Outcomes Centre. 

This Queensland Rehabilitation Medicine Research Capacity Building Project will set in place a foundational building block which results in future Queensland Rehabilitation medicine physicians and trainees with high-level research skills, engagement, participation and productivity, and who are leaders and/or significant collaborators in research which translates to improved outcomes and quality of life for people with illness, injury or disability who require rehabilitation.

Overview of Workshop Series

The major component of this program is the development and implementation of a series of 3 capacity building workshops. They will be conducted in hybrid format although, due to the interactive nature of the material, in-person attendance will be encouraged. 

The workshops will be facilitated by experienced academic and clinical researchers and will cover the following topics: Getting started in research, How to do a Scoping or Systematic review and How to do an Audit. These broadly align to the  requirements of the rehabilitation medicine advanced training Research Project (module 3) requirements.

The format of all workshops will be similar with the first half featuring:

• Interactive presentations on the workshop topic and
• “Stories from the clinical research front line” (trainees/others' experiences of getting started in research)

The second half will consist of:

• 1:1 or small group mentoring to enable participants to discuss their individual research topics / projects with experienced clinical or academic researchers