Background: Evidence Synthesis Ireland (ESI), which includes Cochrane Ireland, aims to build evidence synthesis knowledge, awareness and capacity among the public, healthcare institutions, policymakers, clinicians and researchers on the island of Ireland. One way we do this is through the ESI Fellowship Scheme, launched in January 2019.
Objectives: The scheme builds capacity in Fellows through developing the practical skills of how to plan, design, conduct and report an evidence synthesis. Fellows receive mentoring from evidence synthesis experts and contribute to reviews that have a strong policy and/or practice impact. Process: The scheme places Fellows virtually with experienced review teams nationally and internationally to gain hands-on evidence synthesis experience in a high-quality environment with one-to-one mentorship. Fellowships range from 6 months to 2 years and are unpaid, allowing those working full-time to apply. Benefits include free attendance at ESI workshops, co-authorship, €1000 travel bursary, access to Covidence, and networking/collaboration opportunities. Eligible applicants are clinicians/trainees, researchers, academics and/or postgraduate residents of Ireland/Northern Ireland. Fellows are selected through a competitive process and are expected to commit to 8 hours/week to the review in addition to theoretical training.
Results: Fellows are placed on a range of review types: 50% on Cochrane reviews (reviews of effectiveness, qualitative evidence synthesis, rapid reviews, living reviews and diagnostic test accuracy) and 50% on other reviews (umbrella, overviews, scoping reviews, prognostic reviews, evidence and gap maps and mixed methods). To date, 68 Fellows have been placed. Fellows are mostly female (64%), over half have never completed a systematic review and 35% are early career. Fellows are academics (30%), healthcare professionals (35%), postdoctoral researchers (24%), clinician-academics (6%), policymakers (6%) and others (9%). Fellows report capacity built-in evidence synthesis competencies and illustrate this capacity through leading further reviews, collaborating with mentors and teaching evidence synthesis.
Conclusions: ESI provides a unique opportunity for researchers to develop their evidence synthesis skills and contribute to evidence-based healthcare in Ireland. This model could be replicated by others to strengthen capacity in producing robust evidence. Patient relevance: The scheme is relevant to patients as it contributes to strengthening the capacity of researchers/clinicians to produce robust evidence.