Dr Susan Dovey, Visiting Fellow

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INSIDE THE LINNAEUS COLLABORATIONDoing General
Practice research in an international group

• Dr Susan Dovey, Visiting Fellow
• Australian Primary Health Care Research Institute

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Overview

• The Linnaeus Collaboration
• What it is
• Where it came from
• Where its going
• Tensions
• Single country versus international research
  priority?
• Funding
• Pluses, Minuses, and Compromises
• Leverage
• Collegiality
• Misunderstandings / misinterpretations
• Pragmatic challenges

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What is the LINNAEUS Collaboration?

• Learning
• in an
• INterNational group
• About
• Errors
• and
• Understanding
• Safety

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Linnaeus countries

• Australia
• Canada
• England
• Germany
• The Netherlands
• New Zealand
• The United States

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Where the Linnaeus Collaboration came from

• A Time
• A Knowledge Gap
• Recognition of knowledge gap
• Crystallising the idea

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Lesson drawing from international research

• Describing and clarifying problems and
  determining whether they are commonly experienced
  in more than 1 country
• Identifying the range of approaches used in
  different countries to address problems
• Developing a theoretical model of how an
  intervention addresses a problem
• Testing the model in different countries and
  understanding how the contexts of individual
  countries affect performance of the model

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where the Linnaeus Collaboration came from

• Resonance
• Mates

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Serendipity in forming the PCISME team

• Me in the US
• Steven in the US
• Walter in Canada
• Martin in the UK
• Murray in New Zealand
• Michael in Australia
• Chris in the Netherlands
• Not Korea
• Ferdinand in Germany

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What weve done so far

• The Primary Care International Study of Medical
  Errors
• Protocol and planning early 2001
• Data collection late 2001
• First paper out in AUSTRALIA in 2002 (Makeham, et
  al)
• Papers in GERMANY in 2003
• Papers accepted in other countries
• Full study report not yet accepted for
  publication
• Second study planning in 2003
• Annual meetings
• Discussion papers and documents

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Tensions in International research

• Has to be in a research priority area for more
  than 1 country
• Funding in individual countries versus funding
  for an international project or program
• Sovereignty

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The Good Things about international research

• More understanding of other countries and
  cultures
• More understanding of your own country and
  culture
• Greater exposure to new ideas
• Being able to collect data 24 hours a day
• Glamour

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The Bad Things about international research

• Misunderstandings
• Communication and communication technology
• Research leadership and time commitment
• Extended analysis stage
• Publication and authorship

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The Compromises in international research

• Study design e.g. sample size
• Study topic
• Take the time it takes to collaborate
• Accept long authorship lists

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Key Messages

• Know why you need to do international research
  before you start
• Then follow the Nike Motto
• JUST DO IT

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Thank You