Day 1 : Oral Presentations (Theme: Evaluation & Quality Assurance)

Impact of assignment of dedicated research faculty on thesis completion amongst postgraduate pediatric trainees

Presenter Information

Farah Qamar, Aga Khan University

Location

Lecture Hall 1

Start Date

26-1-2013 4:15 PM

Abstract

Background: The lack of physicians support in research has been discussed for long but little effort is made towards providing dedicated support to residents for their scholarly activities. As a result of this, the mandatory thesis submission is delayed and scholarly activities by residents are also limited. The department of pediatrics at the Aga Khan University, Pakistan, appointed a dedicated research faculty to help the residents with issues in research methodology and provide support in the completion of their mandatory thesis. We report the impact on timing of submission of mandatory thesis by pediatric postgraduate trainees as a result of introduction of this change.

Methods: Using a pre and post design, the study was carried out from 2007-2012. The intervention comprised of assignment of residency research coordinator qualified in clinical research to guide and mentor residents on their individual research projects and opportunity to residents to present their research proposals for discussion on a monthly basis. Mean time to approval of synopsis and frequency of approval of dissertation during residency was the main outcome variable. Data is reported for 3 years pre-intervention (2007-09) and for 3 years post intervention (2010-12).

Results: The mean time to approval of synopsis was 15.5 (±18) months in the pre-intervention phase and it was reduced to 10 (±5) months in the post intervention phase. In the pre-intervention phase only 28% of the residents submitted their dissertation by the end of the training period, which in the post intervention phase increased to 80%.

Conclusions: A dedicated research faculty to guide the residents in completion of their mandatory thesis can remarkably reduce the time of approval of synopsis and submission of thesis

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Jan 26th, 4:15 PM Jan 26th, 4:30 PM

Impact of assignment of dedicated research faculty on thesis completion amongst postgraduate pediatric trainees

Lecture Hall 1

Background: The lack of physicians support in research has been discussed for long but little effort is made towards providing dedicated support to residents for their scholarly activities. As a result of this, the mandatory thesis submission is delayed and scholarly activities by residents are also limited. The department of pediatrics at the Aga Khan University, Pakistan, appointed a dedicated research faculty to help the residents with issues in research methodology and provide support in the completion of their mandatory thesis. We report the impact on timing of submission of mandatory thesis by pediatric postgraduate trainees as a result of introduction of this change.

Methods: Using a pre and post design, the study was carried out from 2007-2012. The intervention comprised of assignment of residency research coordinator qualified in clinical research to guide and mentor residents on their individual research projects and opportunity to residents to present their research proposals for discussion on a monthly basis. Mean time to approval of synopsis and frequency of approval of dissertation during residency was the main outcome variable. Data is reported for 3 years pre-intervention (2007-09) and for 3 years post intervention (2010-12).

Results: The mean time to approval of synopsis was 15.5 (±18) months in the pre-intervention phase and it was reduced to 10 (±5) months in the post intervention phase. In the pre-intervention phase only 28% of the residents submitted their dissertation by the end of the training period, which in the post intervention phase increased to 80%.

Conclusions: A dedicated research faculty to guide the residents in completion of their mandatory thesis can remarkably reduce the time of approval of synopsis and submission of thesis