The Collaborative Open Research Initiative Study (CORIS) is a groundbreaking international research endeavor aimed at exploring vital topics within the field of health professions education. At its core, CORIS embodies the spirit of inclusivity by opening its doors to contributors from all corners of the globe, putting the power of research into the hands of the global community and fostering an environment of open collaboration and meaningful contribution. We invite anyone and everyone to join as collaborators and suggest questions for inclusion in the survey, ensuring that the research process is enriched by diverse perspectives. As a collaborator, you will not only have the opportunity to actively engage in survey design, question formulation, and the entire research process from start to finish, but also gain the prospect of achieving valuable publications, which may boost your professional career.

Introduction:

The Collaborative Open Research Initiative Study (CORIS) embarks on an inclusive and innovative international research endeavor, welcoming contributors from across the globe. CORIS fosters a democratic and collaborative approach, shaping research actively and offering publication opportunities for newcomers in health professions education. We describe CORIS' aims and approach in this study.

Methods:

CORIS, a cross-sectional, web-based survey, seeks to explore critical topics in the field of health professions education. The target population comprises faculty and staff in accredited, degree-granting medical, dental, nursing, pharmacy, and public health schools at both undergraduate and post-graduate levels across 16 countries (n = 14,400). Collaborators can hail from any part of the world but are required to register at https://forms.gle/ZRiwwv3Vmq3y5dv19. Collaborators not only can actively engage in survey design, question formulation, and the entire research process from start to finish but also have the chance to get publications, which can enhance their professional careers. Importantly, there is no financial cost for collaborators at any stage of the study.

Results:

The first iteration, CORIS-1, scheduled for 2024, covers themes such as post-COVID-19 patient care, epidemic preparedness, burnout, artificial intelligence, remote learning, conflict's impact on mental health, substance use, and workplace discrimination. Data will be collected on the Chisquares™ survey platform, and results, codebook, questionnaire, and methods report will be publicly accessible. No sensitive data or identifying information will be collected. CORIS-1 fosters diversity by letting contributors suggest survey questions, aiming to provide novel data, identify gaps, and influence health education policies. It provides an opportunity for research newcomers to engage in the research process from start to finish, and to get publications. Contributors must meet ICMJE authorship criteria. Collaborators can also explore the collected data for their independent projects.

Conclusion:

CORIS redefines research, fostering open collaboration and meaningful contributions. Diverse perspectives and collaborators' contributions are expected to enhance the research process. Graduate students working on theses or dissertations can propose questions in CORIS-1, and early career professionals can also enroll as collaborators to gain a comprehensive understanding of the research process from start to finish.

Inclusion Criteria:

The primary data collection targets faculty and staff in accredited, degree-granting medical, dental, nursing, pharmacy, and public health schools, both at the undergraduate and post-graduate levels.

1. Institutional criterion for inclusion is being an accredited program.
2. Individual-level criterion for inclusion is being a faculty or member of staff, including the following categories of personnel: full, associate, and assistant professors; adjunct/part-time/visiting faculty; clinical support staff; research fellows, program coordinators; and administrative staff.

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Residents, teaching assistants, or work-study students who are currently under training.
2. Faculty and staff in post-graduate residency programs that are not degree-awarding.
3. Faculty and staff involved in allied programs, such as dental hygiene, dental assisting, dental technology, pharmacy technology, and medical assistant programs.
4. Faculty members who are either not listed on the online directories of the respective programs or are listed without an email address.

This survey is a cross-sectional, web-based, self-administered questionnaire directed at staff and faculty members in the selected academic programs. We will employ stratified sampling to enhance statistical efficiency, precision, and obtain adequate sample sizes for meaningful inter-group comparisons. The five distinct categories of schools will serve as the strata: (1) Dental schools (2) Medical schools (3) Nursing schools (4) Pharmacy schools (5) Public health schools.

Upon completion of the study, the data will undergo a thorough cleaning process and be prepared for analysis, alongside the codebook and methodology report which are automatically generated by the Chisquares™ survey platform. All of these materials will be made readily accessible to the public.

June 1, 2025

Publicly available to everyone