awareness of postgraduate residents regarding medical research - a tertiary care centre...

5th International Online Medical Conference (IOMC 2012)

www.iomcworld.com (March 3, 4, 10 & 11, 2012)

5th International Online Medical Conference

IOMC 2012

www.iomcworld.com

Awareness of Post Graduate Residents Regarding Medical Research – A Tertiary

Care Hospital Experience

S H Waqar*1, Zeeshan Razzaq2, Muhammad Mukhtar Khan2, Tanvir Khaliq3, M A Zahid3, Khaleeq uz Zaman4

*1Assistant Professor, Department of General Surgery 2Post Graduate Resident, Department of General Surgery

3Professor, Department of General Surgery4Professor, Department of Neurosurgery

Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, Islamabad, Pakistan



Road Map

• Introduction• Objective• Methodology

• Results

• Discussion

• Conclusion• References

2



Introduction

• The need for continuing research work in medical education

• Involvement in research activities for better clinical care and critical reasoning1

• Health research training forms an important part of medical education2

• Developing a positive attitude towards research3

3



• Research experience is invaluable to the physician's evidence-based practice4

• Experience of research in early career has a favorable outcome regarding professional academic work and career decisions5

• The lack of teaching of research methodology has led to the current poor state of research in health care6

4



• Several studies conducted about the current state of health care research and its knowledge and practice in South Asia7

• The attributed factors being limited time, poor research infrastructure and inadequate research funding opportunities7

5



Objective

• To assess the existing level of awareness, knowledge and attitudes towards medical research amongst post graduate residents at our setup

6



Methods

• Study Design: Cross sectional• Duration: January 2011 to March 2011• Place of Study: Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences,

Islamabad

• Fifteen items questionnaire provided to one hundred residents

• The questionnaire was filled by the researchers in front of the participants

• Data analyzed using SPSS version 10

7



Age

Age

>4036-4031-3526-30

Fre

quen

cy

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

Results

• The age group distribution chart of the participant residents

• majority (54%) belonged to 26-30 years of age

• About 63% of PGRs belonged to male gender while rest (37%) were females

8



• Majority of the residents were enrolled in Fellow of College of Physicians & Surgeons (FCPS) program, followed by Master of Surgery (MS)/MD program (8%) and Member of College of Physicians & Surgeons (MCPS) program (6%) respectively

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• majority i.e. 15% belonged to ObGyn followed by General Surgery (12%).

• 26% of PGRs were in their 3rd year of training

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Speciality of Post Graduate Training

Speciality of Post Graduate Training

Paeds Surgery

Paeds Medicine

Gynaecology & Obstet

Pathology

Radiology

Neurosurgery

Orthopedics

Urology

Plastic Surgery

ENTCardiology

Dermatology

Nephrology

Gastroenterology

Neurology

Psychiatry

Rheumatology

Pulmonology

General Medicine

General Surgery

Fre

quen

cy

16

14

12

10

8

6

4

2

0



• Majority of the PGRs (55%) used internet for accessing medical research, followed by 25% who used medical journals

• 13% used other sources like books, journal clubs etc. for accessing medical research

• 15% of PGRs had never read a medical journal

• 70% read medical journals on monthly basis, 5% on weekly basis and 25% on yearly basis

• None of the PGR read a medical journal on daily basis

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• 88% used internet for literature citing, while 12% did not• 58% of PGRs used internet on weekly basis, 32% on

monthly basis and 10% PGRs used internet yearly• None of the PGRs used internet for literature citing daily

• 95% had not written a research article while 5% did

• 90% PGRs have not presented at a scientific conference while 10% did

• None of the PGRs ever presented a paper at an international conference

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• majority i.e. 36% ranked the research training as poor while 35% said it is satisfactory

13

Level of Research Training

Level of Research Training

PoorUnsatisfactorySatisfactoryGood

Fre

qu

en

cy

40

30

20

10

0



• Majority of the participants (80%) regarded study of current literature as highly important

• Lack of resources and poor research training as the chief factors regarding poor research activity

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Reason for Poor Research Activity

Reason for Poor Research Activity

Lack of Supervision

Heavy Work Load

Lack of Interest

Lack of Time

Lack of Resources

Poor Research Awaren

Poor Research Traini

Fre

qu

en

cy

40

30

20

10

0



Discussion

• The aim of the study was to investigate the attitudes and practices of PGRs towards medical research

• The results of this study show far less involvement of the PGRs in research activities as compared to other local studies8

• However, most of the participants (94%) showed interest in research activities and future research work

• Major factors for poor research in Pakistani studies showed lack of resources (31%) and lack of training in research (17%)8

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• The observations reflect the lack of utilization and production of research by PGRs

• It has been shown that local journals are most likely to influence clinical practice in the developing countries9

• In order to strengthen the local literature; it must not only be properly utilized, but properly contributed to as well

• It is therefore important to promote critical literature reading and analyzing skills

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• Limitations of the study are that it was conducted at one institution involving a limited number of trainees and the findings cannot be generalized

• Despite the limitations the study stimulates the need for further research on this critical issue

• There is an urgent need to conduct more detailed studies across the health education institutes

• Other impediments like high workload, poor funding and lack of access of journals should also be investigated

17



• Extra efforts from teachers; learning opportunities can be created on a systematic basis without demanding additional resources10

• A need to investigate the problem further to generate interventions which may very well serve to increase research activity in the country, both in terms of quality and quantity

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Conclusion

• A need for further research to confirm the findings of these studies

• The survey revealed inadequate knowledge and awareness amongst PGRs regarding medical research

• Though the attitudes towards research were positive, they were deficient practically in terms of reading and writing literature

• Residency training and research facilities at the institution need to undergo major transformation in order to encourage meaningful research by resident trainees

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References

1. Hebert RS, Levine RB, Smith CG, et al. A systemic review of resident research curricula. Acad Med 2003; 78:61-8.

2. Scaria V: Whisking Research into Medical Curriculum: The need to integrate research in undergraduate medical education to meet the future challenges. Calicut Medical Journal 2004, 2:e1.

3. Aslam F, Shakir M, Qayyum MA: Why Medical Students Are Crucial to the Future of Research in South Asia. PLoS Med 2005, 2:e322.

4. Goodman NW: Does research make better doctors? Lancet 1994, 343(8888):59.

5. Sadana R, D'Souza C, Hyder AA, et al. Importance of health research in South Asia. BMJ 2004; 328:826-30.

6. Rehan N. Medical research in Pakistan. J Coll Physicians Surg Pak 2003; 13:617.

7. Khan H, Khan S, Iqbal A. Knowledge, attitudes and practices around health research: the perspective of physicians-in-training in Pakistan.BMC Med Educ. 2009 Jul 17;9:46.

8. F. Aslam, M. A. Qayuum, H. Mahmud, R. Qasim, I. U. Haque Attitudes and Practices of Postgraduate Medical Trainees towards Research – a Snapshot from Faisalabad. JPMA 54:534; 2004).

9. Page J, Heller RF, Kinlay S, et al. Attitudes of developing world physicians to where medical research is performed and reported. BMC Public Health 2003; 3:6.

10. Chaturvedi S, Aggarwal OP. Training interns in population-based research: Learners' feedback from 13 consecutive batches from a medical school in India. Med Educ 2001; 35:585-9.

11. Segal S, Lloyd T, Houts PS, et al. The association between students' research involvement in medical school and their postgraduate medical activities. Acad Med 1990; 65:530-3.

12. Gill S, Levin A, Djurdjev O, et al. Obstacles to residents' conducting research and predictors of publication. Acad Med 2001; 76:477.

13. Alguire PC, Anderson WA, Albrecht RR, et al. Resident research in internal medicine training programs. Ann Intern Med 1996; 124:321-8.

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Thanks

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awareness of postgraduate residents regarding medical research - a tertiary care centre...

Health & Medicine

research activities

research experience

research methodology

research article

poor research training

poor research infrastructure

poor research activity

current poor state of