Keen to host another meeting soon as it provides excellent learning opportunity
PharmEvo sponsored meeting at SZMC Rahim Yar Khan
RAHIM YAR KHAN: PharmEvo Research Forum organized a Research Day meeting at Sheikh Zayed Medical College Hospital Rahim Yar Khan on September 10th 2024 which attracted enthusiastic response from the faculty as well as students and postgraduates since it was the first ever such meeting held at this institution. Principal of the medical college Prof. Muhammad Saleem Laghari, Director ORIC Prof. Ghulam Mustafa specially took keen interest while Prof. Ghulam Fareed was the local coordinator. In all twelve students, Postgraduate groups participated in the competition. The posters were evaluated by Prof. Ghulam Mustafa, Mr. Shaukat Ali Jawaid Chief Editor of Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences who is also Chairperson of PharmEvo Research Forum and Dr. Imran Bashir Head of the Dept. of pulmonology.
Principal of Shaikh Zayed Medical College Prof. Muhammad Saleem Laghari, Prof. Ghulam Mustafa and Prof. Shazia Majid speaking at the Research Day meeting held at SZMC on September 10th 2024.
The presenters were given five to six minutes to make the presentation followed by question answer session. Printed posters were not on display but they were displayed on the screen through multimedia. Some of the presentations were not easily readable. However, the confidence in most of the presenters was excellent. The group which presented the poster “To compare the outcome after cold steel method versus bipolar cautery method for tonsillectomy” by Rafaqat Masood and colleagues won the first prize worth Rs. Seventy-five thousand. Second prize worth Rs. Fifty thousand was earned by Afshan Qayum whose poster was “Frequency of plummer vision syndrome in patient presenting with dysphagia” while the third prize worth Rs. Twenty-five thousand was won by the group whose poster was “Pattern of Atherosclerotic plaque and type of myocardial infarction in patients with or without standard modifiable risk factors” by Muhammad Khalid Razaq.
Topics covered in other posters in the competition were as under:
- Comparison of diagnostic accuracy of pleural fluid gene xpert and pleural fluid adenosine deaminase (ADA) levels in tuberculous pleural effusion – Ahmad Zaki
- ECG as a Predictor of Outcome in CVA patients: A cross sectional Study in Sheikh Zayed Hospital – Hafiz Haseeb Ahsan
- Malignancy and Neck Swelling – Ahmad Ijlal Qazi
- Frequency of Significant Non-Infarct Related Multi-Vessel Coronary Artery Disease in Patients Undergoing Primary PCI After First Presentation with ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction – Rizwan Sadiq
- Comparison between IV iron source and ferric carboxymaltose in management of iron deficiency anemia in antenatal patients – Maria
- Diagnostic accuracy of transthoracic ultrasound in pulmonary thromboembolism taking computed tomography pulmonary angiography as gold standard – Sadia Abdul Majeed
- Functional outcome of Distal Femoral Shaft Fractures Managed with Retrograde Intramedullary Nail in Terms of Knee Range of Motion and Knee Pain – Mubashir Hussain.
Speaking at the occasion Principal of Sheikh Zayed Medical College Prof. Muhammad Saleem Laghari announced that they will continue organizing such academic activities. He thanked PharmEvo for sponsoring the meeting which will go a long way in promoting research culture. Today is the era of Evidence Based Medicine for which research is essential. In future proper information will be disseminated to all the departments and faculty members to provide them an opportunity to participate. We hope to organize yet another such competition very soon in collaboration with PharmEvo Research Forum. We are also looking for PM&DC help for recognition of our journal. Randomized Control Trials and other research generate evidence worth publication. Research is a priority at our institution. He particularly commended the efforts of Prof. Ghulam Fareed for planning and organizing this meeting.
A Research Day meeting was organized at Shaikh Zayed Medical College Rahim Yar Khan on September 10th 2024 sponsored by PharmEvo Research Forum. Group photograph taken on the occasion shows some Faculty members and members of the Experts Panel which evaluated the posters besides representatives from PharmEvo.
Earlier Mr. Shaukat Ali Jawaid in his presentation highlighted that it is the innovative topics and novelty in research which attracted the reviewers and editors. He also discussed the salient features and important components of a research article, what information has to be included in different sections of the paper, how to start writing discussion. He emphasized the importance of proper literature search, selection of topics, selection of sample size, and importance of data analysis, data and its interpretation. Title and abstract both, he further stated, are important and most of the readers, reviewers and editors fist read the abstract. Title should be attractive and interesting. Short title ensures increased citations. Editing a good quality standard peer review biomedical journal is a very frustrating and stressful job and at times the editors have no other option but to reject substandard research. However, no paper should be rejected without valid reasons, he added. It is also important that institutions, organizations publishing a journal have a proper office and minimum dedicated staff to ensure sustained publication.
Ethics Committee/IRB approval of the studies is extremely important. It is desirable that any research must add some new information to the medical literature. Discussion section should also highlight this aspect. Most of the references should be included in this section wherein one has to compare the findings of their study with other local, national, regional and International studies. Similarity of results is good but if the results are different, it further strengthens the study and one should try to find out the reasons. There could be some difference in inclusion criteria, differences in culture and dietary pattern which needs to be investigated and highlighted.
Winners of the First, Second and Third position during the Posters Competition during Research Day meeting held at Shaikh Zayed Medical College being presented Prizes on behalf of PharmEvo Research Forum.
One should be able to convey the objective of the study in just one sentence. He advised those present to improve their reading habits which will help them tremendously in writing and conducting research. Presentations, he further pointed out, also reflect the faculty and the institution hence they must realize their responsibilities of guiding, helping and assisting the budding researches, postgraduates in topic selection and conducting research. They themselves also need to practice continuous professional development. There is lot of facilities available on the net. Institutions like PharmEvo Research Forum also provide opportunities for their professional capacity building.
Dr. Masood Jawaid Director Medical Affairs at PharmEvo highlighted the activities and accomplishments of PharmEvo Research Forum which not only provides training facilities but also funding up to three lac rupees targeting residents and junior faculty members for selected research projects. All the proposals submitted are evaluated by a sixteen-member advisory board which includes Professors in Medicine, Pediatrics, Orthopedics, Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Endocrinology and Cardiology. Participants should be careful while submitting proposals and use the template provided.
PharmEvo Research Forum organized a Research Day meeting at Shaikh Zayed Medical College Rahim Yar Khan on September 10th 2024. Group photograph taken on this occasion shows those who participated in the competition
alongwith some faculty members and members of the experts panel.
Prof. Ghulam Fareed said this was an excellent learning experience and commended PharmEvo for their help and assistance. Data analysis and interpretation is a major problem faced by the researchers. Prof. Zafar Majid stated that now research is essential for survival of the faculty and healthcare professionals. We have started training students. They are introduced to research in first and second year and during the third year they select topic and we hope that by the time they appear in final year examination, they should have published some research work. He further opined that students should be constantly evaluated and they should get some marks and credit for research work during final examination. Department of cardiology at Sheikh Zayed Medical College Hospital has been involved in lot of original research work.
Postgraduates are interested in research but they face problems in analysis and interpretation of data since no statistician is available. Prof. Akmal Hussain also briefly addressed the participants. Prof. Ghulam Mustafa who had started the Journal of the college also described his struggle to start and get the journal recognized from the PM&DC. However, when he was transferred to Nishtar Medical College Multan, the journal could not ensure regular publication. We are trying to revive it and hope to apply for PM&DC recognition soon.
Prof. Shazia Majid complained that they did not get the information in time and when they came to know the last date for participation had already expired. Information for such academic activities, she opined, should be officially circulated through the college administration. She thanked Prof. Ghulam Fareed, who she said, always comes up with some innovative idea. This was a good initiative. PharmEvo is known for promoting research culture and academic activities, aimed at professional capacity building of the healthcare professionals. It is up to us to support such companies or those who take you on pleasure trips within the country and overseas. We need to uphold professional ethics, keep the interest of the patient and the profession supreme and support companies like PharmEvo so that others also start such activities.
Later prizes were presented to the winners of the Research Day competition by the Principal and Members of the Experts panel followed by group photograph of all the participants with some faculty members and members of jury. Mr. Shahzad Faisal Director Marketing in PharmEvo thanks the Principal, Faculty of the SZMC for providing them an opportunity to organize this meeting.
On arrival at Rahim Yar Khan on September 9th, Prof.Ghulam Mustafa welcomed the guest speakers from PharmEvo Research Forum. He was kind enough to arrange a couple of hours trip on Desert Safari which was followed by dinner which he hosted at a local restaurant which was also attended by Prof. Masoodul Haque.
Thank you very much Sir. Such a nice reflection on the Research Day. As always it was a memorable learning experience. Hope to have more opportunities of such type in your kind presence in near future.