Open AccessSustained Support for a Dissertation Will Facilitate Postgraduate Research Publication: An Experience From South India
Author(s) -
Praveenlal Kuttichira,
Kumudam M. Unni,
P R Varghese
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of medical education/journal of medical education.
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1735-4005
pISSN - 1735-3998
DOI - 10.5812/jme.103549
Subject(s) - excellence , medical education , government (linguistics) , incentive , psychology , health care , medicine , political science , linguistics , philosophy , law , economics , microeconomics
Background: Though India’s position in research is notable, it is poor in medical research, barring four centers of excellence. Where the priority for the Government is providing universal health care and for a postgraduate (PG) is becoming a busy clinician, the research remains a low priority. Getting published is an incentive for researchers, and its experience during the training period will be valuable. Research by practitioners in the field is a need in low-and middle-income (LAMI) countries to find workable solutions to local problems. Objectives: The objectives of this study were to develop a system for sustained support and evaluation of the dissertation and to examine its impact on getting published by PG students. Methods: In this prospective study, all 27 PG students of 2015 Batch were given support throughout their six-semester course. Participants were PG students registered for the course in 2015. This included orientation for guides, research methodology (RM) for students and pre-submission (synopsis) external review in the first semester; mid second-year review in the fourth semester and pre-submission (final dissertation), and selection for award and workshop for paper submission in the fifth semester. Results: Before appearing for the final examination in 2018, all 27 students prepared papers out of their dissertations and submitted them to the journals. From April 2019, 19 papers were published, and eight were in various stages of publication. Conclusions: Given sustained guidance and support from the institution, students perform very well, leading to improved publication status.