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ORIGINAL ARTICLE |
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| Year : 2022 | Volume
: 27
| Issue : 6 | Page : 673-676 |
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Awareness of medical research among the resident doctors in a tertiary care hospital in India
Gali Divya1, Vijay Kumar Kundal1, Pinaki R Debnath1, Raksha Kundal2
1 Department of Pediatric Surgery, Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Medical Sciences and Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, New Delhi, India
2 Department of Anaesthesia, Lady Hardinge Medical College and Kalawati Saran Children's Hospital, New Delhi, India
| Date of Submission | 18-Jan-2022 |
| Date of Decision | 05-Jul-2022 |
| Date of Acceptance | 21-Aug-2022 |
| Date of Web Publication | 11-Nov-2022 |
Correspondence Address:
Vijay Kumar Kundal
Room No-409, Academic Block (PGI Building), Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Medical Sciences and Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, Baba Kharak Singh Marg, New Delhi - 110 001
India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/jiaps.jiaps_13_22
 Abstract | | |
Aim: The aim of this study was to study the awareness of medical research (MR) among resident doctors in a tertiary care hospital.
Materials and Methods: This is a descriptive and cross-sectional study conducted for 30 days among the residents of paraclinical, surgical, and nonsurgical specialties, based on a customized self-prepared questionnaire. Convenience sampling was done. Undergraduates, interns, and faculty members were excluded from the study. Scoring was given from 1 to 10 based on their responses to the ten knowledge-based questions in the questionnaire. Data regarding the publication of research articles if any, obstacles in conducting research, and suggestions to improve the research awareness were recorded. Descriptive analysis of the data was done. Based on the scoring, they were divided into three groups: below average if the score is <5, average if the score is 5–7, and above average if the score is 8–10.
Results: A total of 364 resident doctors were included in the study. They were divided into three groups which include paraclinical (n = 56, 15%), surgical (n = 132, 36%), and nonsurgical branches (n = 176, 48%). Scores for the three levels, i.e., below average, average, and above average were 0, 39% (n = 140), and 61% (n = 224), respectively. Forty-eight percent of participants had a publication. Obstacles for conducting the research included lack of time (55%), lack of interest (29%), lack of guidance (35%), and lack of material and teaching (45%). The majority (n = 300, 82%) suggested that conducting more interactive sessions or teaching programs may help in improving the awareness on research.
Conclusions: Most of the resident doctors had a fair knowledge of MR but its application into practice was limited. Including research as a part of the medical curriculum, conducting educational programs or conferences oriented on research may improve the awareness about research.
Keywords: Knowledge, medical curriculum, medical research, practice, resident doctors
How to cite this article:
Divya G, Kundal VK, Debnath PR, Kundal R. Awareness of medical research among the resident doctors in a tertiary care hospital in India. J Indian Assoc Pediatr Surg 2022;27:673-6 |
How to cite this URL:
Divya G, Kundal VK, Debnath PR, Kundal R. Awareness of medical research among the resident doctors in a tertiary care hospital in India. J Indian Assoc Pediatr Surg [serial online] 2022 [cited 2023 Nov 29];27:673-6. Available from: https://www.jiaps.com/text.asp?2022/27/6/673/360946 |
| Introduction | |  |
Conducting medical research (MR) is essential to improve patient care. In this era of “evidence-based medicine,” every doctor should try to contribute by conducting MR.[1] Practice of MR among resident doctors in India is lacking, and only few articles were published in this field.[2] India holds 12th rank in medical research with a global publication share of 1.59% according to the scientometric analysis of Indian research output in medicine during 1999–2008, by Gupta and Bala,[3] Ray et al.[4] evaluated the research output from 579 medical institutions and hospitals in India during 2005–2014, surprisingly 57% of the medical colleges did not have a single publication in a decade and this study concluded that overall research output from Indian medical institutions is poor.[4] As resident doctors are the future researchers, the present study focuses on assessing the awareness of scientific research among them to suggest improvements for the future.
| Materials and Methods | | |
This is a descriptive, cross-sectional study conducted for 30 days (December 1, 2021–December 31, 2021) among the residents of paraclinical, surgical, and nonsurgical specialties, based on a questionnaire [Figure 1]. Questionnaire was peer-reviewed and approved by two senior professors and faculty in the department. It included three parts – details regarding personal data (Part A), ten knowledge-based questions (Part B), and practice of scientific research (Part C). Data regarding the publication of research articles if any, habit of reading recently published articles, attending the institutional workshops, obstacles to conducting research, and suggestions to improve the research awareness as per the study participants were included in part C. Questionnaire was administered to the study participants personally after verbal consent. Convenience sampling was done. Undergraduates and faculty members were excluded from the study. Scoring was given from 1 to 10 based on their responses to the ten knowledge-based questions in the questionnaire. Descriptive analysis of the data was done. Based on the scoring, they were divided into three groups – below average if the score is <5, average if the score is 5–7, and above average if the score is 8–10 [Figure 2]. | Figure 1: Questionnaire based on which scoring was given to the study participants
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 | Figure 2: Three groups based on the knowledge regarding the scientific research
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| Results | | |
A total of 364 residents were included in the study. They were divided into three groups which include paraclinical (n = 56, 15%), surgical (n = 132, 36%), and nonsurgical branches (n = 176, 48%). Forty-two percent of the study participants were junior residents and 58% of them were senior residents. Only 48% of the study participants had publications either as case reports or original articles; among them, only 16% were by the junior residents and 84% by the senior residents. In publishing the scientific research, there is no difference between surgical (50%) and nonsurgical (50%) branches. Only 54% of the study participants read the recently published journals related to their subject. Forty-two percent of the junior residents and 47% of the senior residents had participated in institutional research workshops. Obstacles to conducting research are enumerated in [Table 1]. The majority of them are interested in learning biostatistics including data collection, data management, protocol writing, and sample size calculation. Suggestions to improve the awareness and practice of research among the residents are given in [Table 2]. The majority of the study participants (n = 300, 82%) suggested that conducting more interactive sessions or teaching programs may help in improving the awareness on research. | Table 2: Suggestions from the study participants to improve the awareness and practice of scientific research
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| Discussion | | |
The present study focuses on the awareness and knowledge of MR and its practice among resident doctors in our institution. Resident doctors include both junior residents and senior residents. MR improves understanding of the etiology of disease, diagnostic methods, and improves patient care and it should be an integral part of the medical curriculum.[5] In developed countries, MR was mandatory for undergraduate (UG) and postgraduate (PG) training.[6] Only few articles were published by PG students or residents in India.[2],[7] Only 0.9% of the UG students had shown interest in MR through various programs among the 1,00,000 students in India.[8] However, in countries, where MR is an integral part of training, the publications by UG students were high; In Germany, 28% of the publications were by medical students and in Croatia, 23% of the UG students were involved in research projects.[9],[10] Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, and Orissa together account for 46% of the population of India but had only 10% of the publications, and 42.5% of the articles were produced from three states of Delhi, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu.[11]
Residents who participated in the present study had fair knowledge about MR, as majority (n = 222, 61%) of them scored between 8 and 10 and there were none in the below-average group, similar to the studies of Pawar et al. and Qayoom et al.[2],[12] Even though they had fair knowledge about MR, it was not put into practice. Only 48% (n = 175) of the study participants had publications either as case reports or original articles; and among them, only 7.6% (n = 28) were by PG students (junior residents) and the remaining 40% (n = 147) were by the senior residents. The remaining 52% (n = 189) of the participants did not have any experience of submitting an article for publication. Various studies demonstrate the low level (2%–15%) of resident trainees with publications to their credit.[5],[2],[13] In Pakistan, Adnan et al. showed that 50% of respondents had seven publications on average.[14] As a general perception, it is considered that residents in the surgical branches are busy in clinical work and not able to spend much time in research.
Various authors from India and other countries have shown that, similar to our findings, the common themes that are a barrier to participation in research are lack of time, lack of interest, inadequate facilities, lack of research curriculum, work-related stress, and lack of supervisors/mentors.[2],[12],[13],[15],[16],[17],[18],[19],[20]
Some measures to improve the awareness and practice of MR include conducting workshops or teaching programs mandating attendance and providing the time for this. Assessment and feedback at the end of the sessions may improve the interest and practice of MR. According to Haseeb et al., problem-based learning achieves a higher knowledge score than lecture-based learning.[21] As lack of time was stated as the main obstacle in conducting research, dedicating a time period of 1–3 months for research during the training period may improve the practice of MR. Providing guidance by the mentors and periodic assessment of the research work by mentors also improve the practice of research. Medical teachers should also be trained in research methodology, so that they can motivate the residents and research experience of the teachers should be assessed at the time of their appointment by the university.[2] Qayoom et al. suggested introducing a short duration (1 week) training program at the beginning of internship, so that there would not be any additional examination burden.[12] However, the study by Moges et al. concluded that research training to PG students affected more positively than UG training (P < 0.01).[5] In Ethiopia Addis Ababa University, during the 2nd year of training, 1-month research leave is given in the departments where research work is mandatory.[5] Clinical data such as medical records, research laboratory, and necessary investigating procedures and equipment such as computers, printers, and Internet should be made available to the residents to improve the practice of MR. Only 54% (n = 197) of our study participants read recently published journals regularly, and 23% (n = 84) of them read occasionally; hence departmental journal clubs to discuss the updates and new research in their field should be a part of their academic schedule and standard articles should be made available to the residents.
Resident doctors have to complete the dissertation as a part of their curriculum, and it is mandatory to attend one state/national conference and to give an oral/poster presentation and to submit or publish an article, as per the Medical Council of India (now National Medical Commission) and apart from that it is mandatory to complete the online course in research methods and the completion certificate is mandatory to appear for the final examination.[22],[23]
Limitations of our study include the short duration of the study period and convenience sampling, those who are available, and willing to participate were included in the study. Residents who were not included in the study may be involved in more research activities or even less interested, further confounding the results of our study. Another limitation of our study is, this is a single-institutional study, further limiting the generalization of results with a need of multicentric study.
| Conclusion | | |
Even though most of the resident doctors had a fair knowledge of MR, its practical application is limited. Including this as a part of UG and postgraduate medical curriculum and conducting conferences or workshops oriented on research methodology may improve the awareness and practice of MR among the resident doctors.
Financial support and sponsorship
Nil.
Conflicts of interest
There are no conflicts of interest.
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[Figure 1], [Figure 2]
[Table 1], [Table 2]
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