title: Looking back at the John Mitchell Crouch Fellowship: the most prestigious research award of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons.
abstract: The John Mitchell Crouch Fellowship is a generous endowment made to the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) by the young neurosurgeon's family, following his death from a brain tumour. In this article, we examine the significance and legacy of the grant since its inception in 1979. This is the highest level of research fellowship awarded by the RACS recognizing early career excellence, as part of its significant research funding programme (over $1.7 million in 2015). John Mitchell Crouch recipients have been pioneers in various areas of medicine where they have developed new technologies, established research centres, improved patient safety and military surgery and embraced evidence-based medicine. The funds they received have directly contributed to research published in numerous highly respected peer-reviewed journals such as The New England Journal of Medicine; established new laboratories, helped fund clinical trials and allowed new directions of research to be pursued. Recipients of the John Mitchell Crouch Fellowship have been recognized with many awards including 11 Australian and New Zealand Honours to date. Many other significant research funds have been subsequently bestowed, including over 120 National Health Medical Research Council (NHMRC) grants to Australian and New Zealand recipients subsequent to their Fellowship. This article also shows the range of disciplines in which the award has supported cutting-edge research leading to benefits for patients and health care.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: Margaret
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Boult
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.|Division of Research, Audit and Academic Surgery, Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, North Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: Wendy
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Babidge
authors.affiliation: Division of Research, Audit and Academic Surgery, Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, North Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pleass
authors.affiliation: Division of Research, Audit and Academic Surgery, Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, North Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Scott
mesh_terms: D001315:Australia; D001363:Awards and Prizes; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine / Q000379:methods*; D005257:Fellowships and Scholarships; D006801:Humans; D009520:New Zealand; D010506:Periodicals as Topic; D012955:Societies, Medical; D066231:Surgeons / Q000193:education / Q000592:standards*; D014495:Universities
keywords: Royal Australasian College of Surgeons; fellowship