The Irish Trainee Emergency Research Network (ITERN): five years of collaboration

In 2018, a group of Irish emergency medicine (EM) trainees recognised their common interest in collaborative research and the difficulties that trainees can encounter when trying to broaden their research capacity, prompting the beginning of the Irish Trainee Emergency Research Network (ITERN) journey. Trainee-led collaboratives have been shown to be feasible and have the potential to deliver impactful research projects, generating an evidence base that may not have been possible without collaboration. This article describes the successes and achievement of ITERN and describes the processes and challenges that a trainee-led research network can encounter. The authors believe that trainee-led collaboratives can deliver powerful and impactful research for patients and broaden the research capacity of individuals, hospitals, and groups of healthcare professionals.