Enhancing translational medical research through proof-of-concept services: clinicians’ perspectives

Although the proof-of-concept (POC) phase is critical for the success of translational medical research (TMR), its use remains limited, and clinicians are frequently uncertain about how to seek assistance from POC teams when experiencing difficulties with TMR. Therefore, this study explored clinicians' awareness of POC and the supportive reference services offered by POC teams. We distributed an internet-based questionnaire to 702 clinicians who conducted TMR between August 2022 and March 2023. Descriptive statistics, chi-square test, Wilcoxon rank sum test, Kruskal-Wallis rank sum test, and stepwise logistic regression analysis were applied. Clinicians' awareness of POC was low (69.23%). However, young clinicians (aged 21-30 years) with a higher educational level than their colleagues, good understanding of POC, reliance on the hospital's TMR policy and serviceability, and need or great need for services to identify suitable technology, literature, and intelligence services were likely to choose 'agree' over 'disagree' regarding the ability for POC services to help solve difficulties with TMR. Favourable conditions should be created to encourage clinicians to fully use POC services, and clinicians should actively acquire POC knowledge to enhance their understanding of the value of POC services in TMR. Notably, promoting the establishment of POC centres or platforms at the national level would facilitate the use of POC services by clinicians conducting TMR.