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PhD course: research in health technology is more than clinical research

This week, over 30 PhD students from all over the world and researchers from the USA and Denmark put their heads together at Odense University Hospital to learn about relevant research methods.

CIMT is indeed hosting its first PhD course, which Kristian Kidholm, Head of Research at CIMT, has organised.

THE IMPORTANCE of ASSESSMENT FOR RESEARCH

One of the things the students learn about on the course is the interaction between assessments of medical technology and research into the same. One of the examples that created good debate during the course was when CIMT researcher Knud Yderstræde presented the randomised study of home monitoring of patients with diabetic foot ulcers, which showed an excess mortality in patients receiving telemedicine. Research and assessments do not always show the results you want, so a discussion about when to continue implementation and when to stop a treatment on the basis of research is highly relevant.

Another central point of the course is that research in health technology is more than clinical research. It is also research in design, qualitative research with focus groups and research in implementation. Interdisciplinarity is thus absolutely central to research in health technology.

MORE THAN RESEARCH

During the course, the students heard various presentations and got a lot of inspiration for their theses. They have also visited the Maersk McKinney Moller Institute at the University of Southern Denmark, where they were presented with some of the latest Danish research in health technology.

Along the way, there has also been room for social gatherings and to introduce the course participants to the famous Danish hygge, i.a. with a boat trip on Odense Å and a visit to the street food market Storms Pakhus.

The students thus leave the course with a suitcase full of wise words and new knowledge, which they can use in their further work with their PhD theses. But they have also gained a large, international network of researchers with different educational backgrounds, who provide new perspectives for research and collaboration in the future – ultimately to the benefit of the patients.

Group of people standing together and smiling at the camera

All researchers and course participants together for a group photo.

The course was organised under the auspices of TTRN – Transatlanic Telehealth Research Network, which has been set up to ensure an interdisciplinary research network on telemedicine and eHealth.

Read more about TTRN on their website here.

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