ICU-001 · microscopIA
Verify operational intensive-care facilities and relevant ICU subtypes, then evaluate population access through documented geographic and travel-time analysis. Regional teams use a harmonized protocol and country-specific sources.
The page language is independent of the working-language requirement.
Find provider or facility registries and other traceable sources; build and verify the provider/service-site database; document capabilities and source dates; remove duplicates; and geolocate the actual care sites. Use professional service addresses, not home addresses. The team creates and checks the inputs for analysis rather than receiving a finished registry.
Participants receive training in source assessment, the project data dictionary, provider/facility verification, geolocation, duplicate handling and quality checks. Work uses agreed templates and scientific supervision; methodological specialists oversee harmonized analysis. Assignments and milestones are confirmed during onboarding.
Adapt the Colombian national geospatial study: validate licensed operational facilities; distinguish neonatal, pediatric, adult and burn ICU subtypes where applicable; independently verify geolocation; harmonize official population data with documented settlement refinements; and model least-cost travel times by subtype. The reference evaluates modeled routes and priority expansion areas. Local definitions, population totals, transport assumptions, validation and thresholds must be justified; Colombian road speeds or ethics waivers do not automatically apply elsewhere.
Read the reference methodology ↗Reference preprint · journal review does not imply acceptance
A source-documented registry and data dictionary; verification and geolocation quality-control logs; reproducible maps and accessibility tables; limitations and a decision-oriented interpretation brief. Final scientific supervision, approved protocol, workload, start and publication contributions are confirmed before work begins.
Work in English or Spanish; knowledge of both is not required. Review the project-specific membership/external pathway below. Scientific supervision, access permissions and assignments are agreed before onboarding.
This is health-services research, not permission to recruit patients or begin clinical intervention. Agree scientific accountability, ethics/data permissions and professional-data protection before execution. Do not submit confidential registries or patient data with an application. Geographic access is not live staffing, available beds, appointments, affordability, quality or guaranteed care. Admission and payment do not purchase authorship.
Build and validate a region-wide inventory of intensive-care capacity and geographic accessibility across North America. The study will verify ICU facilities and capability level using traceable public or institutional sources; geocode facilities; quantify facility and, where available, bed/workforce density; and estimate population access using reproducible travel-time methods. Analyses will identify geographic gaps, rural–urban inequities and candidate priority areas for network expansion, referral redesign or further country-level validation. Results will feed the broader microscopIA Global ICU Observatory.
This project is designed to produce decision-relevant evidence for clinical practice, health-system planning or research. Participation combines applied training, verifiable scientific work and contribution to a publication-quality manuscript.
Cross-sectional health-services study combining provider/facility verification, geocoding, resource density, population data and travel-time modelling to quantify accessibility and inequities.
Official registries, ministries of health, scientific societies, professional directories, hospitals and verifiable institutional sources, combined with population and transport-network data.
Participants will be assigned countries or territories within the region and work under a common global protocol. • Identify and verify ICU facilities using traceable sources. • Classify ICU capability using the project data dictionary. • Verify addresses, coordinates and duplicate facilities. • Extract beds, workforce or service-capability data when publicly verifiable. • Complete country-level quality-control checks and source documentation. • Contribute to interpretation, regional comparisons and manuscript preparation.
microscopIA is designed so participants can progress at their own pace within project deadlines. Work is primarily asynchronous and there is no fixed weekly schedule. An average commitment of 5–7 hours per week is anticipated and can be distributed flexibly. Mandatory meetings are kept to the minimum necessary. Under a self-governance model, each team may choose to meet more often when that improves coordination. The key expectation is to complete agreed tasks and deadlines to a high standard. The model is designed to remain compatible with medical school, rotations, clinical duties, call schedules and other professional responsibilities.
Multicountry research Capacity verification Geocoding and accessibility analysis Equity interpretation
All participants will receive the Global ICU Observatory data dictionary, facility-verification workflow, geocoding rules, source hierarchy and quality-control protocol. microscopIA will provide methodological oversight for GIS, accessibility modelling and cross-region harmonization; senior ICU experts will support clinical classification and interpretation.
Expected outputs include a validated ICU facility database for North America, reproducible geospatial accessibility analyses, regional maps, health-system gap indicators, and contribution to the Global ICU Observatory manuscript series.
Manuscript intended for submission to a PubMed-indexed journal; preprint whenever appropriate.
Members and external applicants may apply, subject to available places. Working language: English or Spanish (either language is sufficient).
Medical students, junior doctors and early-career professionals interested in Critical Care Medicine, Travel-Time Analysis, with attention to detail, independence and the ability to deliver high-quality work in a flexible environment.
No specific certificate is required. Project-specific onboarding and calibration are mandatory.
microscopIA will cover approved article-processing or publication fees for the anticipated manuscript. Participants will not be required to personally pay approved publication charges. Coverage is subject to the project reaching manuscript quality, compliance with the approved protocol, and submission through the microscopIA research program.
The project is designed to produce a substantive research record and a manuscript intended for submission to a PubMed-indexed journal. Authorship is contribution-based and follows ICMJE criteria: substantial contribution to the work, drafting or critical revision, final approval, and accountability. A preprint will be prepared whenever appropriate. Poster presentation opportunities may be assigned based on project performance and conference fit. Certificates, reference letters and other academic documents remain subject to the applicable microscopIA Membership and Project Terms.
Each participant may declare a maximum of two institutional affiliations. Format: Department, Organization (Hospital, University, Company), City, Country.
Jorge Racedo at microscopIA; Dr. Joseph L. Nates at The University of Texas MD Anderson. Senior clinician or subject-matter expert allocated by microscopIA.
Join an existing microscopIA project as a research-team participant. Applying starts selection; work begins after acceptance, onboarding and agreement on your role.
The usual contribution is data extraction and verification, with project-specific training and supervision. Mapping teams also locate sources, build provider databases and geolocate care sites; AI projects may assign image annotation. The project brief takes precedence when it specifies different tasks.
microscopIA covers all publication and execution costs of approved Join a Project work, including engineers, epidemiologists and data scientists. Participants are not asked to fund these project costs. Membership fees, where applicable, are separate.
Members and external participants receive project certificates for verified contributions and completed milestones. Substantial scientific contributions and sustained good performance create a pathway to authorship, subject to all authorship criteria.
A project certificate records the verified role, contributions and completed work; it can support your CV before journal publication. It is distinct from membership certificates, reference letters and institutional academic credit, which have their own requirements.
Data acquisition alone is not sufficient. Contributors who make substantial qualifying contributions are given the opportunity to help draft or critically review the manuscript, approve the final version and accept accountability. All who meet the applicable authorship criteria should receive credit. Roles and author order are reviewed transparently using contribution records; membership and payment do not purchase authorship.
When scientifically and ethically appropriate, the team may post a preprint before or during journal review, subject to author approval, permissions and journal policy. A preprint is preliminary and not peer reviewed; cite its actual status. Timing and journal acceptance are not guaranteed.
The team plans for one member to present a poster or oral contribution at a national or international congress when the findings and event are suitable. Presenter selection considers contribution, readiness and availability. Submission and acceptance depend on the congress; registration and travel funding must be confirmed separately in writing.
This pathway covers joining an existing project. Clinician/investigator calls for proposing a case report or original study have separate input requirements, membership/nonmember rates and approved agreements. Applicants do not send patient-identifiable records or confidential datasets through initial applications.
Choose your role in this project
Choose the member or external route below, where eligible. Include the project code; use it manually if the form does not display it.
ICU-001Use the same contact email. If you already have a profile, update it rather than creating a duplicate. A profile alone is not a project application.
Create or update profile →Scientific selection, available places and onboarding are confirmed separately. Neither step guarantees acceptance.
01
Build research experience through agreed tasks, project-specific training and scientific supervision. Prepare your CV, interests and weekly availability.
Active members receive a suitable supervised assignment within their plan: their preferred project or an appropriate alternative. A specific project or authorship is not guaranteed.
Apply as a Student or Young Professional ↗Students & Young Professionals · microscopIA →Active membership required. Contribute to results interpretation and manuscript preparation, especially the introduction and discussion. Senior authorship requires qualifying contributions, review, approval, and accountability. The same project application deadline applies.