Institutional Perspectives and Educational Priorities for Robotic Surgery in Low-Resource Settings: A Multinational Cross-Sectional Study

About the Study

The Operating Room Global (TORG) is launching the TORG iPREP-OR Study, a multinational collaborative research initiative exploring institutional perspectives and educational priorities regarding robotic surgery within operating room practice across low-resource and resource-constrained settings.

This study seeks to generate evidence that may guide future robotic surgery education, perioperative workforce development, simulation initiatives, digital surgical innovation, and policy planning in emerging surgical systems globally.

The study will adopt a multinational multicentre cross-sectional survey design involving collaborators from hospitals, universities, surgical training institutions, and perioperative networks worldwide.

Study Population

The study will include professionals involved in surgical and perioperative care, including but not limited to:

Surgical & Medical Teams

• Surgeons (All specialties)
• Anesthesia Providers
• Critical Care Teams
• Surgical Residents, and Fellows

Perioperative & Operating Room Teams

• Perioperative Practitioners
• Operating Room Nurses
• Recovery Room Teams
• Sterile Services Personnel
• Theatre Managers
• Surgical Safety Officers
• Theatre Educators
• Surgical Technologists
• Simulation Facilitators
• Operating Room Coordinators

Academic, Research & Technical Teams

• Biomedical Engineers
• Researchers
• Academic Faculty
• Medical Students
• Surgical Trainees
• Health Policy Experts
• Digital Health Experts
• Innovation Specialists
• Hospital Administrators
• Data Collectors
• Research Assistants

International Collaborators Needed

TORG is inviting collaborators from:

• TORG chapters
• Affiliated hospitals
• Universities
• Research institutions
• Surgical societies
• Perioperative associations
• Simulation centres
• Innovation hubs
• Robotic surgery companies
• TORG Partner Institutions
• Healthcare institutions in low-resource and resource-constrained settings globally

Role of Collaborators

Collaborators will:

• Disseminate the survey locally
• Recruit eligible participants
• Facilitate local institutional permissions where required
• Support local coordination and communication
• Participate in collaborative meetings
• Contribute to manuscript review
• Participate in publication and dissemination activities

Co-authorship Opportunity

The TORG iPREP-OR Study will operate under a collaborative authorship model.

Collaborators meeting predefined contribution criteria will qualify for collaborative co-authorship under the TORG Research Collaborative model.

Co-authorship eligibility may include:

• Active recruitment participation
• Completion of collaborator responsibilities

Funding

The TORG iPREP-OR Study is a non-funded collaborative research initiative coordinated by The Operating Room Global (TORG). Participation is entirely voluntary, and collaborators are expected to contribute within the resources available at their respective institutions. TORG does not provide financial support for local ethics applications, participant recruitment, data collection, travel, or other study-related expenses.

Ethics & Governance

The study has received overarching ethical approval from The Operating Room Global Institutional Review Board (TORG-IRB).

Collaborators are responsible for determining and complying with the ethical and administrative requirements applicable within their own institutions and countries. Where required, collaborators must obtain local Institutional Review Board (IRB)/Research Ethics Committee (REC) approval, ethics exemption, or administrative/site permission before commencing participant recruitment or data collection.

Participation is voluntary, responses will be anonymous, and informed consent will be obtained electronically before participation. The study will be conducted in accordance with applicable data protection regulations, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) where applicable, and relevant local laws.

Expected Impact

The TORG iPREP-OR Study seeks to:

• Generate evidence regarding robotic surgery education priorities
• Support robotic surgery educational planning in low-resource settings
• Guide future simulation and digital surgical innovation initiatives
• Strengthen global perioperative research collaboration
• Support equitable surgical innovation globally

Expression of Interest

Interested collaborators are invited to send an email to:

research@operatingroomissues.org

Proposed Study Timeline

Timeline	Activity
13–20 July 2026	Extended Call for Collaborators
25 July 2026	TORG iPREP-OR Study Kick-off Meeting, 18:00 via Zoom.
26 July – 31 August 2026	Site onboarding, collaborator training, allocation of site codes, finalisation of the Google Form, and obtaining local ethics approval/administrative permission where required
1 September – 30 November 2026	Participant recruitment and data collection
30 September 2026	First recruitment progress review
31 October 2026	Mid-study recruitment review
30 November 2026	Data collection closes and database locked
1–31 December 2026	Data cleaning, validation, statistical analysis, and interpretation of findings
1–31 January 2027	Manuscript drafting, internal review by collaborators, revisions, and preparation for journal submission
February 2027	Manuscript submission to The Operating Room Global Journal and preparation of abstracts for conference presentation (if applicable)

Email Subject: TORG iPREP-OR Study Collaboration

Interested collaborators should provide the following information:

1. Full Name with any title (if applicable)
2. Phone Number (WhatsApp contact including country code +)
3. Profession/Role
4. Institution/Hospital Name
5. Country
6. Email Address
7. Area of Interest/Proposed Contribution to this Study (Only Site Lead/Data Collectors now required)
8. Availability of Local Institutional Ethics Approval or Permission (if applicable)
9. Estimated Number of Participants Potentially Reachable at Their Institution

Extended Deadline for Expression of Interest:

20th July 2026

We welcome collaborators from all surgical, perioperative, academic, educational, innovation, simulation, healthcare-related disciplines and partner institutions interested in contributing to this multinational collaborative study.