Collaboration – children’s research depends on it
Tuesday 2 December, 5.30 for 6pm, Room F518, Robert Winston Building,
In the present day, only part of medicine involves the care and healing of the sick. I discovered this as Chair of the Trainees Committee at the Academy of the Medical Royal Colleges. Medicine is driven by health and disease, politics, finance, training and education but changes positively through collaboration. The MTAS (Medical Training Application System) debacle brought chaos to medicine in 2007. The lives of 31,000 doctors were thrown into disarray overnight. Yet a new era dawned. Finally the great powers in medicine met around the table to discuss a better future for doctors. Great change was made through collaboration. My journey through paediatric endocrine research has opened my eyes to the enormous potential collaboration can achieve. The breadth and depth of those working in research to improve child health is vast. Despite the national ambition for research to become the endeavour of those willing to collaborate, children’s research and innovation has remained a relatively fragmented process.
Paul Dimitri is a Consultant in Paediatric Endocrinology and Director of Research & Innovation at Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust and an Honorary Professor of Child Health at Sheffield Hallam.
Places are free and include light refreshments but must be booked in advance.