Dr Finlayson's appeal for rigorous standards of research in the burgeoning field of
global surgery was heartening.
1
The call for scientific rigor in global surgery research and the need to embrace
this field in academic surgery are sentiments shared by many. However, he notes that
studies reported to date have focused on descriptive need assessments, burden of disease,
and operative capacity in low-income countries, but “truly scientific” research would
be hypothesis-driven and focus on outcomes, cost, and quality. He suggested that descriptive
studies are not scientific, and although they are somewhat useful for advocacy, cannot
create much change. However, these descriptive studies are the foundation for the
type of research upheld as the standard. Although much of the descriptive work published
to date has lacked rigorous methodology, the shortcoming is not the study type but
the lack of scientific design.To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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References
- How should academic surgeons respond to enthusiasts of global surgery?.Surgery. 2013; 153: 871-872
- Surgery.in: Jamison D.T. Breman J.G. Measham A.R. Disease control priorities in developing countries. 2nd ed. Oxford University Press, New York2006
Article info
Publication history
Published online: August 12, 2013
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© 2013 Mosby, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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- How should academic surgeons respond to enthusiasts of global surgery?SurgeryVol. 153Issue 6
- PreviewI think it safe to say that just about everyone connected to resident recruitment has been amazed by the number of medical students who have had experience with or have expressed interest in work in low-income countries. Indeed, a growing number of our surgical residents envision themselves becoming involved in the nascent branch of global health, now increasingly referred to as global surgery.1,2 Given the growth of attention and the fact that many of these trainees are among our brightest and most motivated, global surgery can no longer be ignored as a boutique interest.
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