Fidelity in Academic Global Surgery and Research: Incorporating Trustworthiness in the Development of Research Partnerships, Infrastructure, and Policy

Youmna A Sherif; Sarnai Erdene; Lubna Khan; Todd K Rosengart; Sabrina Marie Asturias Simons; Rachel W Davis; Godfrey Sama Philipo

doi:10.1097/XCS.0000000000001104

Fidelity in Academic Global Surgery and Research: Incorporating Trustworthiness in the Development of Research Partnerships, Infrastructure, and Policy

J Am Coll Surg. 2024 Apr 29. doi: 10.1097/XCS.0000000000001104. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Youmna A Sherif¹, Sarnai Erdene², Lubna Khan¹, Todd K Rosengart¹, Sabrina Marie Asturias Simons³, Rachel W Davis¹, Godfrey Sama Philipo^{4

5}

Affiliations

¹ Center for Global Surgery at the Michael E DeBakey Department of Surgery, Baylor College of Medicine, 1 Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX, 77030.
² Department of Surgery, Mongolian National University of Medical Sciences, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
³ Department of Surgery, Hospital Roosevelt, Guatemala City.
⁴ The College of Surgeons of East Central and Southern Africa.
⁵ Branch for Global Surgical Care, The University of British Columbia.

PMID: 38682803
DOI: 10.1097/XCS.0000000000001104

Abstract

Academic global surgery consists of collaborative partnerships that address surgical inequities through research, training, education, advocacy, and diplomacy. It has been characterized by increased scholastic production through global surgery publications, dedicated global surgery sessions within scientific conferences, global surgery-specific research grants, database development to support global surgery research, global surgery research fellowships, and global surgery-based academic promotion paradigms. The increased emphasis on global surgery research has been accompanied by multiple ethical challenges. This article reviews critical ethical dilemmas presented by global surgery research efforts and proposes interventions on the partnership, infrastructural, and policy levels to enhance fidelity within research partnerships.