South Asia Research Methodology Workshop
The first National Conference on Family Medicine and Primary Care was organised by Academy of Family Physicians of India in collaboration with The Spice Route Movement and supported by WONCA. The Research Methodology workshop held during the conference was organised by the South Asia Primary Care Research Network (SAPCRN) and held on April 21.
Introduction of facilitators and participants and format of the research workshop was explained by Dr Basharat Ali, Chair SAPCRN. He also enlightened on the importance of regional cooperation in primary care research with in South Asian countries. The countries having good health indicators in some field can guide other countries to achieve the said targets with mutual cooperation.
How to undertake research in primary care which gets published in high-impact journals and its impact on clinical practice was presented by Prof David Mant in an excellent way. Formulating the Research Question was an interactive session performed in a very impressive way by Dr Sajida Naseem who is Assistant Professor Department of Community and Family Medicine Shifa College of Medicine Islamabad, Pakistan. How to search Literature relevant to your study needs was explained by Mrs Vasumathi Sriganesh marvelously. She offered access to the software she designed for the purpose. The topic, Basics of research was presented by Dr Sajida Naseem brilliantly. Her command on the subject was fantastic. Study design was presented by Dr Basharat Ali. It was also an interactive session; the participants’ contribution was excellent in this presentation. Data analysis was again presented by Dr Sajida Naseem and was also an interactive session. Research Ethics was presented by Dr Tabinda Ishfaq who is Assistant Professor, Deptartment of Family Medicine, Aga Khan University Karachi Pakistan. Manuscript Writing was presented by Dr Basharat Ali to make the participants familiar with the need of the standard of writing manuscripts acceptable for the various international journals. An editor’s perspective on publications and how to get published was presented by very nicely by Dr Anita Jain, India Editor, BMJ. She explained the difference between BMJ and BMJ Open.
The participants and the presenters enjoyed the knowledge sharing in this workshop. This was indeed another milestone in primary care practice in India. Such activities of capacity building and knowledge sharing are important and should be continued. We cannot forget the cooperation and help by Dr Raman Kumar, Chair Organising Committee Family Medicine and Primary Care 2013; Dr Garth Manning CEO WONCA; Dr Preethi Wijegoonewardene, WONCA South Asia Region President; and Dr Ramnik Parekh, from India.
Dr Basharat Ali MBBS MD MRCGP PhD
Chairperson SAPCRN
Regional Member WONCA Working Party on Research