Sherrill Windsor Westbrook, Hall Luke, Fredendall Lawrence, Evatt Janet Hoffman
Clemson University School of Health Research Clemson South Carolina USA.
Department of Public Health Sciences Clemson University Clemson South Carolina USA.
Learn Health Syst. 2025 Jan 15;9(3):e10481. doi: 10.1002/lrh2.10481. eCollection 2025 Jul.
A learning health system (LHS) necessitates collaboration to produce translational health research. This experience report examines the integration of Clemson University scholars into clinical departments of Prisma Health-Upstate in South Carolina, highlighting their experiences working alongside clinician mentors to inform and facilitate research translation. Particularly, this study aims to explore the interpersonal and structural factors influencing the success of an embedded scholar program, focusing on enablers and barriers to collaboration, knowledge integration, and mentorship within the LHS.
Nine embedded scholar and 12 mentor semi-structured interviews were conducted. This qualitative study initially used an inductive technique to analyze responses thematically. After thematic saturation was achieved, deductive analysis was utilized to further organize enablers and barriers across the following five categories: (1) Scholar Integration, (2) Scholar Autonomy, (3) Mentor Support, (4) Programmatic Outcomes, and (5) Institutional Dynamics.
We found 10 major program-related enablers and barriers to successfully embedding scholars. These were clinical environment adaptation, mentor interaction, research management, balance of independence, role clarity, resource provision, research application and quality, scholar development, organizational support, and policy and procedure alignment. Findings reveal that effective mentorship, organizational alignment, and resource availability are critical enablers of program success, while misaligned expectations, limited institutional support, and insufficient scholar integration into clinical environments are barriers.
Evaluating specific components of embedded scholar programs can uncover best practices and innovation opportunities in the LHS. These provide a great opportunity to enhance the mentorship mechanisms between clinical mentors and embedded researchers. As research on embedded scholars in a LHS progresses, fostering structured mentoring relationships may serve as an impetus to bridge the gap between research and clinical practice. Further study is needed to operationalize these relationships effectively.
学习型健康系统（LHS）需要通过合作来开展转化性健康研究。本经验报告考察了克莱姆森大学的学者融入南卡罗来纳州普isma健康-上州临床科室的情况，重点介绍了他们与临床导师合作以推动研究转化的经历。具体而言，本研究旨在探讨影响嵌入式学者项目成功的人际和结构因素，重点关注LHS内合作、知识整合及指导的促进因素和障碍。
对9名嵌入式学者和12名导师进行了半结构化访谈。这项定性研究最初采用归纳法对回答进行主题分析。在达到主题饱和后，运用演绎分析进一步将促进因素和障碍归纳为以下五个类别：（1）学者融入，（2）学者自主性，（3）导师支持，（4）项目成果，（5）机构动态。
我们发现了10个与项目相关的主要促进因素和障碍，这些因素影响着学者的成功嵌入。它们是临床环境适应、导师互动、研究管理、独立性平衡、角色明确、资源提供、研究应用与质量、学者发展、组织支持以及政策和程序一致性。研究结果表明，有效的指导、组织一致性和资源可用性是项目成功的关键促进因素，而期望不一致、机构支持有限以及学者在临床环境中的融入不足则是障碍。
评估嵌入式学者项目的具体组成部分可以揭示LHS中的最佳实践和创新机会。这些为加强临床导师与嵌入式研究人员之间的指导机制提供了绝佳机会。随着对LHS中嵌入式学者研究的推进，建立结构化的指导关系可能有助于弥合研究与临床实践之间的差距。需要进一步研究以有效落实这些关系。
