Capacity building in operational research: more than one way to slice the cake

Abstract

The importance of programmatically relevant operational research (OR) as a key driver to strengthen public health activities is well recognized. Moreover, building capacity of health workers from high-disease burden countries to independently conduct OR on priority issues within their health services is accepted as an essential component of public health programs. However, the approach taken in building local OR capacity varies widely between training initiatives. The Union-MSF model is the training model adopted by the Structured Operational Research and Training Initiative (SORT IT), a global partnership led by the Special Program for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases at the World Health Organization. It has set the standard for hands-on, milestone-based training with an emphasis on tangible outputs – marked largely by the submission of research papers to peer-reviewed scientific journals. The success of this approach is undeniable as evidenced by the research outputs: by March 31, 2015, there had been 247 papers submitted to peer-review journals from 20 completed OR courses of which 208 (84%) were in press or published. The involvement in SORT IT has further established the standardization and quality of this training. To date, most of the research conducted under SORT IT has been retrospective analyses of routinely collected data. SORT IT partners are now planning expansion into more complex, prospective operational, and implementation research using mixed quantitative and qualitative methods. This research was supported by the UK Department for International Development’s Operational Research Capacity Building Programme led by the International Union Against TB and Lung Disease (The Union)