LAUSR

“There is no I in team.” Anonymous Effective teamwork is essential for the conduct of impactful modern research and innovation, and thus crucial to the advancement of evidence-based surgical care. The composition of surgical research teams can vary widely, as can the interpersonal dynamics among team members. Traditional methods of team formation historically involved non-structured social interactions, typically among geographically co-located individuals in similar academic circles. However, this approach precludes broad-reaching collaboration across space, instead encouraging tribalism and limiting groups to a local level and narrow focus. Currently, with modern technology platforms can be developed to optimize the formation of successful surgical research relationships and productive teams across geographic and socioeconomic boundaries. Supervisor-student relationship dynamics can be vital to the success of surgical research projects and higher degrees. They can also foster long-standing collaboration and symbiosis that promotes surgical innovation. Previous quantitative analyses of PhD students’ perspective on supervision support the assertion that the production of an acceptable thesis is significantly reliant upon supervision. When the interpersonal relationship is effective, students may flourish with subsequent gains in innovative potential. Conversely, ineffective research relationships may result in adverse outcomes such as bullying and degree incompletion. Sadly, recounts of such adverse supervisory outcomes persist, and efforts should be made to reduce these within the surgical community. When larger surgical research teams are involved, the interplay between multiple individuals only serves to increase complexity within the dynamics of the associated interpersonal relationships. Teamwork has been shown to be closely linked with outcomes in multiple fields in medicine. Similarly, previous research on scientific research labs has suggested that aspects the composition of a lab may be associated with its resultant output. Existing strategies to identify potentially beneficial surgical research relationships and teams are limited. Historically, approaches to identify potentially suitable supervisors and students frequently relied upon word-of-mouth information gathering, brief teaching interactions, and participation in similar academic fields and conferences. With the advent of networking platforms (such as LinkedIn) and researcher profiles on institutional and public websites (such as ResearchGate), a greater selection of potential supervisors may be available to prospective students. However, while these platforms make more information publicly available, they do not guarantee the development of relationships that are effective for facilitating impactful surgical research and innovation. Most institutions and established academics in the present day display their professional achievements on their respective websites in order to attract prospective researchers to work with them. Developing researchers applying for positions or seeking employment may follow similar strategies within their resumes or portfolios presented to selection committees, where subjective representations of their personal beliefs on their own potential may be pursued over objective depictions of specific accomplishments. As a result, a predicament is often reached that is similar to those experienced by users of dating sites, whereby the presented information promises more than what is capable of being delivered. Accordingly, this disconnect with reality can create friction between the involved parties, and have negative effects on collaboration. Some modern technologies have been created to facilitate the development of interpersonal relationships. Most notably, the impact of social media on current and future society has been profound. Platforms, such as Facebook, employ data-driven algorithms that encourage engagement, including through the development of engaging interpersonal relationships. With sufficient data, similar methods could be employed to facilitate the identification and fostering of productive surgical research relationships and team formation. One potential strategy to facilitate the development of effective surgical research relationships and teams may be through open and online platforms. Through the development of in-depth profiles, researchers, students, and supervisors may be identified who have a high probability of successful collaboration. Such matching processes may take into account variables such as prior experience, previous collaborators, work habits (e.g., circadian preferences), personality traits, outside interests, and participant expectations. Conventional criteria by which surgical research relationships and teams are formed, including fields of academic interest, career goals, and geographical location, may still play a role in the algorithms underpinning such potential platforms. The development of these platforms may increase the effectiveness of research teamwork, and accordingly facilitate surgical innovation. However, the effect of such platforms would require robust evaluation to ensure that unintended adverse outcomes do not occur, such as the development of significant confirmation bias among small groups. Following platform development, future studies would seek to evaluate their impact on patient, system, and societally important outcomes. Such outcomes may include both the quantity, as well as the impact, of surgical research produced through the collaborations facilitated via the novel platforms.