On 28th august, 2023 the student research forum of KMC Manipal held a workshop to educate students about the need to participate in research as well as guided them on how to start their research journey from scratch. The day long workshop featured talks by many experienced researchers and professors who shared their journeys and advice.
The event started with an introductory speech by Dr. Krishnananda Prabhu welcoming all the guests and the audience. A beautiful prayer was sung by Sukriti Chugh followed by the ceremonious lamp lighting by all the dignitaries present including Dr. Padmaraj Hegde- dean KMC Manipal, Dr. Unnikrishnan- dean KMC Mangalore, associate deans, research faculty and heads of SRF.
The first speech was given by Dr. Unnikrishnan ‘Introducing Undergraduate Research’. He spoke about the importance of balancing research and academics and how bridging knowledge gaps is essential for practicing evidence-based medicine. Research helps in building the career, gaining experience as well as many important skills like time management, creativity, statistics, and critical thinking. He focused on the need to do translational research that is applicable in the clinics and helps improve patient experience. He also spoke about how KMC Mangalore had integrated research in the curriculum. He urged the students to do research and get it published.
The second talk was by Dr. Animesh Jain on ‘Converting a concept into a research question’. He asked students their motivation behind research and explained how medicine is not an exact science but an evidence-based discipline. Discussing various ways to get ideas for research, he talked about the three types of research questions- causal, descriptive and comparative. He explained each with examples and talked about the Boolean operators. He talked about the need to have an idea of novelty and utility.
Dr. Unnikrishnan continued with his talk on ‘Formulating the appropriate research question’. He told the audience about the steps involved in writing a research question and what makes it a good question. He emphasised on the importance of a research question being the cornerstone of a fulfilling research. He spoke about the quantitative and qualitative research questions, giving examples and situations when each are used. He taught the students how to write the aim and objective of a research question that adheres to the content in a comprehensive manner.
After a short break, Dr. Chiranjay Mukhopadhyay held a session on how to ‘Connect a research question to research design and methods’. He introduced research designs and their specific methods. Demonstrating with examples he showed the correct choice of research methods that will make your research coherent.
Dr. Chythra Rao spoke about ‘Conducting a survey and audit’. Telling the students how to develop a survey research question and about the survey methods – descriptive and longitudinal with examples. Dr. Rao taught how to make a survey questionnaire for each method and how to make the questions high yielding. She also talked about the methods of survey administration and methods of sample selection.
Dr. Muralidhar Kulkarni held a talk on ‘Writing a Research Protocol’ with the essential items. Giving examples he demonstrated how each section should be written and what makes a good and bad research protocol. He introduced the CROSS-checklist approach for survey studies and how to write a generic research protocol for various prestigious grants like ICMR STS.
After lunch, Dr. Rajesh Krishna Bhandary conducted a session on ‘Research Ethics and Completing an Ethics Application’. He talked about how to identify ethical considerations in research and write them in a protocol format. He presented various strategies to mitigate ethical considerations and how to make an IEC application and the various documents needed.
Dr. Asha Kamath talked about ‘Essentials of Data Analysis and Reporting Study Results’. She spoke about various methods of data analysis and how to choose the most suited for particular research. Introducing quantitative and qualitative data analysis methods she educated the audience how to audit the necessary data and report the appropriate results using checklists like STROBE.
The final talk was by Ms. Natasha Gulati on ‘Using a Reference Manager and References’. She talked about common reference managers like Endnote, Mendeley and how to import citations in the correct format. She educated the students on how to manage a digital reference library and practice citing complete references while writing. She spoke about various referencing styles and how to get the desired style from the reference manager.
And with this the truly educating and enlightening workshop by SRF was concluded.
Photography: Anusha Srivastava, Yash Yadav The Editorial Board KMC
Writeup: Sanshrita Khamesra The Editorial Board KMC
Coverage: Sourabh Singh, The Editorial Board KMC