Since 2018, the Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases (GACD) has run an annual Implementation Science School as part of its commitment to capacity-building. This two-week training school is facilitated by some of the field’s most prominent global experts.
To learn more about this fantastic event, we interviewed Professor Rafael Bomfim, a facilitator for the Implementation Science School based in Brazil, and Angela Paric from Canada who participated as a trainee.
Implementation science is an emerging field. Because of its youthfulness in the scientific community, there are several interpretations of its aims and underpinning approach. However, implementation science has a fundamental difference from clinical science. As Bauer (2020) puts it: implementation science actively engages with the context into which a clinical innovation is introduced, rather than controlling (efficacy studies) or simply tolerating (effectiveness studies) that context.
Rafael, an implementation scientist, described it as filling the gap between scientific knowledge and real application. Angela, a trainee in implementation science, reflected more broadly on what this new field means to her. “As a grad student, you have generated so much research knowledge, you write papers, you go to conferences – but how do you use that knowledge to make a difference in the real world? That is what I think implementation science is about.”
The aim of the Implementation Science School is to develop the implementation science leaders of tomorrow, by training early- and mid-career researchers who have an interest in non-communicable diseases. Trainees engage with an intensive programme designed to build their skills and confidence in implementation research.
This year provided a new challenge: a global pandemic. However, the Implementation Science School faculty and trainees embraced this challenge, and all learning, debates, discussions, and group work were translated from in-person activities to the online world.
Rafael told us how the curriculum starts from the bottom and builds up. “I think that the first objective of the course is to provide knowledge to researchers and trainees to help them think about frameworks and theories to develop better research projects.” It seems that the trainees agreed with Rafael on the importance of this foundation: the pre-recorded lecture on theories, models, and frameworks was the most viewed across the whole programme.
As well as the more traditional lectures, there was an intensive interactive component in the group work. “I think that was a genius idea,” Angela told us, “It meant that we would have to get together with people from many different backgrounds and put our heads together to come up with something.” The small groups were put together carefully to balance diversity with practical time zone constraints. The faculty were particularly impressed with the commitment and motivation of the trainees to meet with their small groups outside of scheduled sessions.
Technology can be a great asset. “We had an international programme from our homes,” Rafael told us. So, the connections were still made, and the learning still engaged with, just through a different medium. As a trainee, Angela was pleased with the online delivery and noted some advantages of a virtual setting, particularly for people earlier on in their careers. “[It] gave the opportunity for a greater number of people to attend because, of course, self-funding would have been required for us to travel, and that is not easy to get.”
Rafael thought back to previous Implementation Science School that were delivered in-person. “We had some talks during coffee breaks in [past] events that were important for establishing future networks, so this was a challenge because it was a virtual meeting.” Incidental, informal interactions – sometimes referred to as ‘water cooler moments’ – can be a challenge to recreate in any online event, without feeling forced, awkward, or contrived. But it transpired that the concerns about water cooler moment were largely unfounded.
Rafael noted that the faculty, the facilitators, and the trainees have three common objectives: to better understand the implementation science frameworks, to develop research projects across different countries, and to network. And indeed, networking was highly valued by the trainees despite the challenges, with Angela telling us it was her favourite part.
“We each had our own way of thinking about problems,” Angela said, “Trying to make sense of all that was just such a fun time. It was challenging, but it was very, very rewarding.” She went on to describe how the small group work was particularly conducive to this, despite being online. “Even beyond the working component, my group went off on tangents occasionally, talking about personal things, so it was also nice to just connect on a more personal level.”
The facilitators and the faculty also built their networks through the Implementation Science School. “This event was a great opportunity to establish different networks,” Rafael told us, “I have connected with people that I never expected, like people in Japan or in other areas of the world.” He also reminded us of a quote used during a plenary session to which everyone related: if you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together.
The Implementation Science School took place online between 23 November to 4 December 2020. Our thanks go to Rafael and Angela for generously giving their time to be interviewed.