Hanafi, Ibrahem

Abstract Background: The huge workload on doctors especially residents, who are the main health care providers in public hospitals, in addition to the vanishing incomes and lack of personal safety during the decade-long Syrian crisis, led to further hurdles in the focus on research. Postgraduate students in the medical and paramedical fields must conduct original research projects as part of their graduation requirements. However, this does not reflect on research publications coming from Syria. Methods: This is a nation-wide cross-sectional study targeting medical, dental, and pharmacy postgraduate students who are at the phase of planning for their required projects. The questionnaire aimed to capture their attitudes toward research, perceived barriers, and previous research experiences in order to suggest evidence-based recommendations. Results: The sample consisted of 429 residents representing about 22% of the target population. Nearly all the participants had positive opinion toward the important role of medical research and the significance of their participation. Agreement was also clear regarding perceived barriers, including the lack of adequate training and research facility. Seventy-one percent of the participants were not involved in any research before the time of their master theses, less than 13% of them had submitted an article for publication, and less than 5% had submitted more than one paper. Despite that, high-quality internet connectivity and rich English writing skills were associated with further research experiences. Additionally, mentors' support and self-paced learning of research skills had significant positive impact on students' research contributions with odds ratios of 2.04 [[95% Confidence Interval]: 1.02–4.06] and 2.68 [1.48–4.84], respectively. Conclusion: Lack of training and mentorship, in addition to several common barriers to medical research, hampered residents' capacity of conducting and publishing research despite their positive attitudes toward it. Nevertheless, the variance within our sample exposed a promising window for implementing low-cost institutional and individual solutions such as peer-run self-paced training opportunities and long-distance mentoring.

Abstract Introduction:The huge workload on doctors especially residents, who are the main healthcare providers in public hospitals, in addition to the vanishing incomes and lack of personal safety during the decade-long Syrian crisis, led to further hurdles for the focus on research. Postgraduate students in the medical and paramedical fields must conduct original research projects as part of their graduation requirements. However, that does not reflect on the research publications coming from Syria.Methods:A nation-wide cross-sectional study targeting medical, dental, and pharmacy postgraduate students who are at the phase of planning for their required projects. The questionnaire aimed to capture their attitudes towards research, perceived barriers, and previous research experiences.Results:The sample consisted of 429 residents representing about 22% of the target population. Nearly all the participants had positive opinion towards the important role of medical research and the significance of their participation. Agreement was also clear regarding perceived barriers including the lack of adequate training, and research facility. Seventy-one percent of the participants were not involved in any research before the time of their master theses, less than 13% of them had submitted an article for publication, and less than 5% had submitted more than one paper. Poor internet connectivity and poor reading and writing English skills were decisive negative factors in previous research experiences. Mentors’ support and self-paced learning of research skills had a significant positive impact on students’ research contributions with odds ratios of 2.04 [1.02-4.06] ( P <0.001) and 2.68 [1.48-4.84] ( P <0.001) respectively.Conclusion:The attitudes of postgraduate students towards research were quite positive but hindered by several obstacles. Further integration of research practical training in the curricula, allowing long-distance mentoring, enhancing collaboration between peers, as well as narrowing the distance between students and mentors may significantly boost research productivity in Syria despite the conflicts.

Abstract Introduction:The huge workload on doctors especially residents, who are the main healthcare providers in public hospitals, in addition to the vanishing incomes and lack of personal safety during the decade-long Syrian crisis, led to further hurdles for the focus on research. Postgraduate students in the medical and paramedical fields must conduct original research projects as part of their graduation requirements. However, that does not reflect on the research publications coming from Syria.Methods:A nation-wide cross-sectional study targeting medical, dental, and pharmacy postgraduate students who are at the phase of planning for their required projects. The questionnaire aimed to capture their attitudes towards research, perceived barriers, and previous research experiences.Results:The sample consisted of 429 residents representing about 21.5% of the target population. Nearly all the participants had positive opinion towards the important role of medical research and the significance of their participation. Agreement was also clear regarding perceived barriers including the lack of adequate training, and research facility. Seventy-one percent of the participants were not involved in any research before the time of their master theses, less than 13% of them had submitted an article for publication, and less than 5% had submitted more than one paper. Poor internet connectivity and poor reading and writing English skills were decisive negative factors in previous research experiences. Active mentors’ support and self-paced education on research skills had a significant positive impact on students’ research contributions with odds ratios of 2.24 [1.34-3.74] (P=0.003) and 2.28 [1.47-3.52] (P<0.001) respectively.Conclusion:The attitudes of postgraduate students towards research were quite positive but hindered by several obstacles. Further integration of research practical training in the curriculums, allowing long-distance mentoring, enhancing collaboration between peers, as well as narrowing the distance between students and mentors may significantly boost research productivity in Syria despite the conflicts.

AbstractIntroduction: Research is crucial for health-care delivery. However, medical students may not participate in research during their training, which might negatively affect their understanding of the importance of research and their future ability to conduct research projects. This is more prominent in developing countries. We aim to assess the attitudes of a sample of Syrian medical students toward research and suggest plausible solutions to reduce their self-reported barriers. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using a self-administered, pretested questionnaire. Results: Three hundred and twenty-three responses were included. Most students demonstrated positive attitudes toward research. However, most of the responses indicated that they did not receive any training in academic writing or research and therefore did not have the opportunity to participate in formal research projects or scholarly writing. Students reported various types of barriers that challenged their progress in the field of research. Students who reported being encouraged by their professors to participate in research and writing/publishing scientific papers or reported receiving training about these activities were more likely to participate in research projects or writing scientific articles. Conclusion: Students have positive attitudes toward research and publication while they reported poor education, limited participation, and presence of many barriers that impede their participation in such activities.