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LETTERS: Matthew J Ridd and Alison R G Shaw Five futures for academic medicine: "Speed networking" may be one way forward BMJ 2005; 331: 695-b [Full text]

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Speed Networking and Postgraduate Research

Roger H Jones   (18 October 2005)

Re: Speed Networking and Postgraduate Research

Matthew J Ridd, Roger H Jones   (16 January 2007)

Speed Networking and Postgraduate Research 18 October 2005
Roger H Jones, Wolfson Professor of General Practice King's College London, Department of General Practice & Primary Care, London, SE11 6SP Send response to journal: Re: Speed Networking and Postgraduate Research	We were intrigued to read Ridd and Shaw’s recent communication on the use of a modified form of ‘speed dating’1 to improve their collaborative academic outlook in Bristol. We are pleased to report a refinement of this methodology and its application to the identification of research and education projects, and supervisors, for students undertaking the MSc in Primary Health Care at King’s College London. At the first meeting of our MSc cohort (n=8) and senior researchers and educators (their potential project supervisors, n=9), we used a modification of the Ridd and Shaw methodology, extending the student:supervisor contact time to approximately five minutes (recognising the conversational needs of our qualitative researchers) and supplemented the process with a printed handout, reminding students of supervisors’ research and education interests and providing contact details. Using this methodology we were able to introduce all students to all the supervisors in under an hour, during which the energy and enthusiasm in the room were palpable. All involved agreed that this was an effective and enjoyable way of making preliminary contact and the mean student satisfaction score, on a Likert scale with a maximum score of 10, was 7.75. We recommend the continued use and development of this approach as an excellent means of breaking the ice at events where academic collaboration of various kinds is being sought. On behalf of the MSc Faculty and students Department of General Practice and Primary Care King’s College London 1. Ridd M.J. & Shaw A.R.G. “Speed networking” may be one way forward. BMJ 2005, 331: 695 (24 September) Competing interests: None declared
Re: Speed Networking and Postgraduate Research 16 January 2007
Matthew J Ridd, MRC Clinical Research Fellow Academic Unit of Primary Health care, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 2AA, Roger H Jones Send response to journal: Re: Re: Speed Networking and Postgraduate Research	Dear Editor, In September 2005, Ridd and Shaw[1] reported on a technique called “Speed networking” that was piloted as a means of efficiently finding new potential partners for research collaborations. This methodology was adopted and modified by Jones[2] in an educational setting. We write to provide an update on the longer-term outcomes of the approach in these two settings. Unfortunately, our experience to date is that the encouraging feedback given by participants immediately after speed networking has not translated into longer-term positive outcomes. Ridd and Shaw sought to use speed networking as a spring-board for members of two academic units in Bristol to follow-up introductions with joint research proposals and grant applications. To date none have taken place. Jones sought to match MSc students at King’s College, London with supervisor and project. Unfortunately, 75% of initial relationships subsequently foundered, such that speed networking led to a long-term relationship in only one-quarter of student-supervisor pairs. Prior failed pairings did not appear to hinder the subsequent development of successful and enduring student- supervisor relationships, however. Although speed networking has therefore been unsuccessful in two centres, there were small numbers of participants in each group (16 in Bristol, 17 in London). This means that it difficult to know whether fickle academics or capricious students are responsible for these disappointing results, or whether the approach itself is fundamentally flawed. We suggest a randomised controlled trial with a control group allocated to a more traditional form of introductions, for example a drink in the pub, is warranted, to assess whether speed networking is more conducive to academic relationships “not-working” than working. Yours sincerely, Matthew Ridd Roger Jones 1 Ridd M.J. & Shaw A.R.G. “Speed networking” may be one way forward. BMJ 2005; 331: 695 (24 September) 2 Jones, R.H. Speed Networking and Postgraduate Research. BMJ 2005; 331: 1025 (18 October) Competing interests: None declared