QAMC Principal Soufia Farrukh commends Pharm Evo Research Forum for promoting research culture

Wishes to have such academic activities more frequently

24 Posters presented at QAMC Research Day

BAHAWALPUR: Prof. Soufia Farrukh Principal of Quaid-e-Azam Medical College commended PharmEvo Research Forum for promoting research culture at medical institutions in the country. This has been an excellent learning experience. She was speaking at the concluding session of the Research Day celebrated at the institution on October 12th 2024. Various student’s groups presented twenty-four posters on different topics in the competition highlighting important issues. The posters were evaluated by a panel of experts which included Heads of Departments of Surgery, Medicine and Obstetrics & Gynaecology besides, Dr. Masood Jawaid and Mr. Shaukat Ali Jawaid Chief Editor of Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences who is also Chairperson of PharmEvo Research Forum.
The presenters were given four minutes to make the presentation on their poster and later answer questions from the evaluators.

Prof. Soufia Farrukh Principal Quaid-e-Azam Medical College Bahawalpur alongwith members of the Jury presenting prizes to the winners of First, Second and Third position during the Research Day meeting held at QAMC on
September 12th 2024.

Marks were given based on originality and novelty of the idea, importance and clinical relevance of the topic selected, contents, presentation skills and visual impact of the poster. Since the students were not given any particular template, they used different formats to make their posters. It was observed that it is essential that before organizing any such competition, a workshop on How to make poster presentation should be organized which will help them. Secondly they need to select some novel topic with some innovations which is only possible when they identify some problem and then plan to find an indigenous cost effective solution. While deciding to present a case report, it must be ensured that it is a rare case and has not been reported or only a few cases has been reported so far. The students also need to be educated on latest developments in scientific writing, proper literature search and make sure that their studies have latest references.

Presenters of poster “Efficacy of oral solution of Misoprostol for the induction of labour” by Dr. Sumreen Akram and colleagues won the first prize with Rs. Seventy-five thousand. The second prize worth Rs. Fifty thousand was won by the group which had their poster “Diagnostic accuracy of machine learning models for detecting benign versus malignant vertebral fractures” by Dr. M. Shahzaib Khan and colleagues. Third prize was earned by the group whose poster was on “Cracking the code: Total Bile Acids and Transaminases in diagnosing intra hepatic cholestasis of pregnancy” by Dr. Musarat Akram and colleagues. The prizes were presented to the winners by Prof. Soufia Farrukh along with Chairperson of PharmEvo Research Forum. All the participants were also presented certificates and mementoes. The Principal also presented the mementoes to some faculty members, members of the organizing committee in recognition of their contribution to organize this Research Day meeting.
Topics covered by other presenters included the following:

1. Antibiotic susceptibility and bioremediation potential of probiotic bacteria against lead and cadmium isolated from yogurt – Muhammad Usama Awais
2. Unconventional presentation of smoldering Multiple Myeloma: A case report – Anum Abbas
3. Diversity in severity of high-resolution computed tomography findings of COVID-19 patients with diabetes – Samia Abbas
4. Spot light on rare entity: Multiple cranial nerve involvement in known case of acute lymphoblastic leukemia with relapse to combination therapy – Muhammad Haseeb Malik
5. Comparison of mean onset time and mean duration of action between atracurium and cisatracurium in patients undergoing elective surgery – Ameer Hamza
6. The Association of Androgenetic Alopecia with Hypertension and Hyperaldosteronism – Rana Ali Khalid
7. Medical complications after live donor kidney transplantation: An experience from tertiary care hospital of south Punjab, Pakistan. – Muhammad Tahir Riaz
8. Bombay Blood Group in a Female with Postpartum Acute Kidney Injury and Sepsis: A Case Report – Ahsan Khurshid
9. Co-occurrence of Charcot Marie Tooth Disease and Crigler-Najjar Syndrome Type II in a patient with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus – Umar Farooq
10. Dealing with insulin resistance among polycystic ovarian syndrome patients – Naila Shabbir
11. Comparative study in illizarov and dual plating in proximal tibia fracture shetzker 5 and shetzaker 6 – M Asim Shahzad
12. Live birth rates In patients of antiphospholipid syndrome Treated with antiplatelet drug compared to antiplatelet drugs plus antithrombotic drugs – Khiaynat Sarwar Hashmi
13. Comparison of the efficacy of intrauterine balloon tamponade versus uterovaginal packing in massive postpartum hemorrhage after vaginal delivery – Ayesha Karim
14. Comparison of blood loss in uterine sharp vs blunt incision of cesarean section – Saba Shahid
15. Comparison of pregnancy outcome in high risk primigravida with or without use of low dose aspirin for prevention of preeclampsia – Anam Farooq
16. Reactions and perspectives of health workers on violence – Furqan Shoukat
17. Diagnostic accuracy of transvaginal ultrasonography in diagnosing endometrial carcinoma in post- menopausal women, taking histopathology as gold standard – Nimra Sattar
18. Neurological manifestations and neuroimaging findings in patients with SARS-CoV2: a systematic review – Muhammad Ali Fayyaz
19. HolEP (Holmium Laser Enucleation of Prostate), as a Standard Surgical Treatment of BPH – Muhammad Farrukh Naveed
20. Comparative effectiveness of oral progesterone in preventing pretermlabor in singleton and twin pregnancies – Adeela Anwar Rana
21. Comparison between mean duration of post-operative analgesia of intraperitoneal bupivacaine alone or with exmedetomidine following laparoscopic cholecystectomy – Qazi Anees Ahmed
22. The hyperuricemia preterm delivery paradox: A call to action for improved fetomaternal care in pre-eclampsia – Saiqa

Earlier Mr. Shaukat Ali Jawaid in his presentation on Scientific Writing and Quality in publications highlighted that it is the originality of the idea and novelty of the selected topic which attracts the Reviewers and Editors. If the problem identified is interesting, it will ensure quality in presentation and publication as well. He further stated that one has to build in quality in the manuscript. Quality is important not only in topic selection but also in formatting, internal and external peer review, page make up, proof reading and publications. Quality has to be given due importance at each and every stage. Presentations by the students, he went on to say also reflects on the faculty and the institution. Hence it is the responsibility of the faculty to train the students. During the evaluation of posters, we did point out certain issues to the presenters and hope that it will help them in future competitions. Participation in a competition itself, he said, is remarkable and all the presenters deserve to be appreciated to have taken up this challenge. It provides an excellent opportunity to learn.

Dr. Masood Jawaid Director Medical Affairs at PharmEvo in his presentation highlighted the activities of PharmEvo Research Forum which apart from many other academic activities has been active in establishing Research Cells at various medical institutions, organizing Research Days, providing help and assistance in data analysis, scientific writing and critical appraisal of manuscripts in pre-submission stage. Hopefully this won’t be the last time but we will continue to organize such academic activities in the days to come as well directed at professional capacity building of the faculty and postgraduates, he remarked.

The interest shown by the faculty members and postgraduates was very heartening. Principal of QAMC Prof. Soufia Farrakh in particular showed keen interest and had planned no other activity on that day so that she can participate in the meeting which was indeed very heartening. If head of any institution is interested in academics, it ensures that they will provide all help and assistance needed by the faculty and trainees. Earlier she had a detailed discussion with Chief Editor of Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences on different aspects to help promote academic activities. Prof.Mazhar Faiz Alam was the local co-coordinator for the Research Day meeting and had made excellent arrangements with the help of his other professional colleagues.