INSIDE THE LINNAEUS
COLLABORATION:
Doing General Practice research
in an international group
Dr Susan Dovey, Visiting Fellow
Australian Primary Health Care Research Institute
Overview
 The Linnaeus Collaboration
• What it is
• Where it came from
• Where it’s going
 Tensions
• Single country versus international research priority?
• Funding
 Pluses, Minuses, and Compromises
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Leverage
Collegiality
Misunderstandings / misinterpretations
Pragmatic challenges
What is the LINNAEUS
Collaboration?
Learning
in an
INterNational group
About
Errors
and
Understanding
Safety
Linnaeus countries
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Australia
Canada
England
Germany
The Netherlands
New Zealand
The United States
Where the Linnaeus
Collaboration came from
 A Time
 A Knowledge Gap
 Recognition of knowledge gap
 Crystallising the idea
“Lesson drawing” from
international research
 Describing and clarifying problems and determining whether
they are commonly experienced in more than 1 country
 Identifying the range of approaches used in different
countries to address problems
 Developing a theoretical model of how an intervention
addresses a problem
 Testing the model in different countries and understanding
how the contexts of individual countries affect performance
of the model
… where the Linnaeus
Collaboration came from
Resonance
Mates
Serendipity in forming the
PCISME team
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Me in the US
Steven in the US
Walter in Canada
Martin in the UK
Murray in New Zealand
Michael in Australia
Chris in the Netherlands
Not Korea
Ferdinand in Germany
What we’ve done so far
 The Primary Care International Study of Medical
Errors
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Protocol and planning early 2001
Data collection late 2001
First paper out in AUSTRALIA in 2002 (Makeham, et al)
Papers in GERMANY in 2003
Papers accepted in other countries
Full study report not yet accepted for publication
Second study planning in 2003
 Annual meetings
 Discussion papers and documents
Tensions in
International research
 Has to be in a research priority area for more
than 1 country
 Funding in individual countries versus
funding for an international project or
program
 Sovereignty
The Good Things about
international research
 More understanding of other countries and
cultures
 More understanding of your own country and
culture
 Greater exposure to new ideas
 Being able to collect data 24 hours a day
 Glamour
The Bad Things about
international research
 Misunderstandings
 Communication and communication
technology
 Research leadership and time
commitment
 Extended analysis stage
 Publication and authorship
The Compromises in
international research
 Study design – e.g. sample size
 Study topic
 Take the time it takes to collaborate
 Accept long authorship lists
Key Messages
 Know why you need to do international research
before you start
 Then follow the Nike Motto
JUST DO IT
Thank You