Content of review 1, reviewed on November 15, 2017

This is a post-publication review of an original article titled "'International Scholarship Programs of the American College: Expansion of the Global Surgical Network". The authors' objective is to describe the experiences gained by the international scholars who visited US and Canadian institutions through the American College of Surgeons (ACS) programs. The abstract matched the rest of the article. The introduction on this topic is clear and the research question is clearly outlined. The method they used to collect the needed information (an Internet-based survey e-mailed to the alumni), is valid, reliable, and comprehensive. The data in the Results section is clear, and the tables and figure are self-explanatory. The conclusions are well supported by their results. The limitation of this kind of study depending on surveys are related to the response rate, which in this case varied from 33%, 42%, 45%, and 60%, all the way to 78% (depending on the alumni of the different ACS programs), which are not the highest responses but are in the common range of what currently is published in the literature. The article has only one reference listed, which is relevant and recent, but although is related to the ACS international surgical education, it would be much better to include more citations related to different programs that currently exist in US and also have published their experience. Overall, this article shown a proper study design and it has answered the hypothesis appropriately.

Source

    © 2017 the Reviewer.

References

    Giuseppe, N., Kate, E., George, T., Alberto, F., R., F. C., Richard, S., B., A. W., L., T. P., George, V. 2018. International Scholarship Programs of the American College of Surgeons: Expansion of the Global Surgical Network. World Journal of Surgery.