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Pediatric research in Spain: Challenges and opportunities
Laura Moreno-Galarraga1, Cesar Gracía Vera2, Irene Rivero-Calle3
1Servicio de Pediatría, Hospital Universitario de Navarra (HUN). Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Navarra (IdisNa). Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Pública de Navarra (UPNA). Pamplona, Spain.
Insights
Pediatric research in Spain faces significant barriers, including underfunding and lack of training. Addressing these issues through increased investment and improved training is crucial for advancing child health.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric research
- Child health
- Public healthcare system
Background:
- Pediatric research is vital for childhood disease diagnosis, treatment, and prevention.
- Spain's pediatric research is underfunded and underrepresented compared to adult research and international standards.
Purpose of the Study:
- Identify barriers to pediatric research in Spain.
- Propose strategies for strengthening pediatric research and its integration into the public healthcare system.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of the current state of pediatric research in Spain by the INVEST-AEP working group.
- Identification of barriers in funding, training, clinical workloads, and bureaucracy.
- Proposal of improvement strategies based on identified barriers.
Main Results:
- Key barriers: limited funding (5% of national grants), insufficient research training, heavy clinical workloads without protected research time, and poor collaborative networks.
- Challenges are more severe in primary care.
- Lack of recognition for research in career advancement and public position applications.
Conclusions:
- Urgent strategies required: increased investment, specialized training programs, and collaborative networks.
- Pediatricians should integrate clinical practice, teaching, and research.
- Collaboration among pediatricians, institutions, universities, and governments is essential to advance pediatric research and child health in Spain.
Introduction:
Pediatric research is key for improving the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of childhood diseases. In Spain, however, this vital area of research remains underfunded and underrepresented compared to both domestic research in the adult population and pediatric research in other countries.
Objective:
To identify the main barriers to pediatric research in Spain and propose strategies to strengthen its development and integration into the public healthcare system.
Methods:
The INVEST-AEP working group conducted an analysis of the current state of pediatric research in Spain. The analysis identified barriers related to funding, training, clinical workloads and bureaucracy, based on which the group proposed several potential improvement strategies.
Results:
The main barriers include limited funding (5% of national grants), insufficient training in research (both in undergraduate and residency programs), substantial clinical workloads with no protected research time and insufficient collaborative networks. The situation is even more critical in primary care, and, in addition, research efforts do not receive the recognition they deserve for professional career advancement or the competitive application process for public positions. Potential solutions were identified, such as improvements in medical and residency training, consolidation of structured research networks, dedicated sources of funding for pediatric research, protected research time, centralization of ethics committees and recognition of research in merit-based evaluations.
Conclusions:
Urgent strategies are needed to strengthen pediatric research in Spain, including increased investment, specific training programs and collaborative networks. A skilled pediatrician should seamlessly integrate clinical practice, teaching and research. Pediatricians, institutions, universities, and the central and autonomous community governments in Spain need to actively promote pediatric research to improve child health and to position Spain as a leader in the field.
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