International Collaboration: Promises and Challenges

• Main Authors: R. Jay Widmer, Jocelyn M. Widmer, Amir Lerman
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Rambam Health Care Campus 2015-04-01
• Series: Rambam Maimonides Medical Journal
• Subjects: Clinical trial; collaboration; international; train the trainer
• Online Access: http://rmmj.org.il/Pages/ArticleHTM.aspx?manuId=488

Rambam Maimonides Medical Journal 2015 April; 6(2): e0012. ISSN: 2076-9172 Published online 2015 April 29. Special Issue on the Rambam-Mayo Collaboration Guest Editor: John H. Davidson, M.D., M.A.H.L. doi: 10.5041/RMMJ.10196. International Collaboration: Promises and Challenges R. Jay Widmer, M.D., Ph.D.,1 Jocelyn M. Widmer, Ph.D., M.P.H.,2 and Amir Lerman, M.D.1* 1Division of Cardiovascular Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, Mayo Clinic and College of Medicine, Rochester, MN, USA; 2Department of Urban and Regional Planning, College of Design, Construction and Planning, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA Conflict of interest: No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported. * To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: [e-mail] Copyright: © 2015 Widmer et al. This is an open-access article. All its content, except where otherwise noted, is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Abstract We currently face a myriad of grand global challenges in fields such as poverty, the environment, education, science, and medicine. However, our current means of dealing with such challenges has fallen short, and ingenious solutions are required to overcome the inherent resistance to progress toward ameliorating such difficulties. Here, we highlight the promises and challenges of international collaboration in achieving success toward these trials. We note prior successes in fields such as education, medicine, science, and environmental issues made to date, yet at the same time we do note deficiencies and shortcomings in these efforts. Hence, the notion of international collaboration should be strengthened and encouraged by governments, non-profit organizations, and others moving forward using creative means to bring talented teams together to tackle these challenges across the globe.