It is essential that all medical specialist trainees are able to identify and apply important research findings when caring for patients. Some may also participate in conducting research, and a few will become research leaders. While research and evidence-based practice competencies are incorporated into most speciality training program curricula, for some time there has been concern that the programs do not provide the best environments to develop these skills adequately. For instance, analysis of Specialist Medical Colleges research curricula and their training program selection criteria both indicate an excessive reliance on leading research projects rather than identification and promotion of core research competencies.

The ENHANCE Project aims to explore and improve the research expectations and training set by Specialist Medical Colleges.

Broadly, we aim to:

1. Understand what is happening in practice; namely the quality of trainee experience and the quality of the research itself; and

2. Develop a core research curriculum, including recommended practice pedagogies, for doctors undertaking their clinical specialist training.

We are currently working collaboratively with 13 principal Australian and New Zealand Specialty training colleges, several national and international universities, and former Australian Medical Council members. We welcome additional collaborators to reach out to us: p.stehlik@griffith.edu.au

For more information visit our OSF page.

Current ENHANCE Projects under way

1. Systematic Review of citation misrepresentation in applications to specialty training programs

2. Contemporary techniques used in the Health and Medical literature: A cross-sectional analysis of the literature

Completed ENHANCE Projects

A mixed methods study examining Australian and New Zealand specialist trainees' experiences and research outputs

SYNOPSIS

This project surveyed and interviewed current and past trainees to understand what is happening in practice; namely the quality of trainee experiences and the quality of the research itself. Ultimately the purpose of the project is to use this information to co-develop research training curricula with the colleges.

This project is being funded by the Gold Coast Health Collaborative Research Grant Scheme 2020.

PUBLICATIONS

Brandenburg, C., Hilder, J., Noble, C., Liang, R., Forrest, K., Joshi, H., ... & Stehlik, P. (2024). “Luck of the draw really”: a qualitative exploration of Australian trainee doctors’ experiences of mandatory research. BMC medical education, 24(1), 1021. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-024-05954-6

Stehlik, P., et al., Mandatory research projects during medical specialist training in Australia and New Zealand: a survey of trainees’ experiences and reports. Medical Journal of Australia, 2025. 222(5): p. 231-239. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.5694/mja2.52611

The MJA also issued an editorial to accompany our survey results (written by Prof Nicholas Talley), which was supportive of further improvements to College research training and concluded "Surely this is worth everyone's time and effort!"

see: Talley, N.J., Mandatory research projects by medical specialist trainees: suboptimal today, world-leading tomorrow? Medical Journal of Australia, 2025. 222(5): p. 229-230. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.5694/mja2.52612

Selection criteria for Australian and New Zealand Medical Specialist Training Programs – another under-recognised driver of research waste.

SYNOPSIS

Doctors are placed under significant pressure to engage in research for career progression. Our review suggests that research selection criteria for specialty training programs incentivise high-volume, CV-padding research, focusing on quantity and authorship position over research quality. These selection criteria may be unintended drivers of research waste.

PUBLICATIONS

Withers, C., Noble, C., Brandenburg, C., Glasziou, P.P. and Stehlik, P. (2021), Selection criteria for Australian and New Zealand medical specialist training programs: another under-recognised driver of research waste. Med J Aust. https://doi.org/10.5694/mja2.51250

Understanding Research and Evidence-Based Requirements of Medical and Surgical Trainees in Australia: Stated and Intended College Curricula.

SYNOPSIS

We examined the intended research curricula of Australian trainee doctors described by specialist colleges, their constructive alignment and the nature of scholarly project requirements through a ontent analysis of publicly available documents to characterise college research training curricula of 58 Australian specialist colleges and their subspecialty divisions.

Australian specialist college research curricula appear to emphasise a role for trainees in leading research and producing research deliverables, but do not mandate formal research training and supervision by experienced researchers.

PUBLICATIONS:

Stehlik P, Noble C, Brandenburg C, et al; How do trainee doctors learn about research? Content analysis of Australian specialist colleges’ intended research curricula BMJ Open 2020;10:e034962. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2019-034962 (http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2019-034962)

Stehlik P, Henry D, Glasziou P. Dobson J, editor. The BMJ Opinion2020. Available from: https://blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2020/07/14/specialist-college-training-a-potential-source-of-research-wastage/.

Other ENHANCE publications

Roos, D.E., Stehlik, P. and Parizel, P.M. (2024), The trainee research curriculum: Time to ENHANCE it?. J Med Imaging Radiat Oncol, 68: 771-773. https://doi.org/10.1111/1754-9485.13735