KARACHI- Pakistan Dental Community (PDC) successfully organized five different sessions as part of its research training seminar in May at the central Mess of NORE 1. The participants of the seminar drawn from various dental schools of Karachi were provided opportunity to enhance their learning experience under the leadership of experienced instructors. Introductory session was conducted by Dr Syed Muhammad Faizan on May 3. His lecture focused on understanding the role, scope and importance of research in the field. Dr Faizan discussed how research findings could positively impact our field and health status. Second session, comprising two sessions, was conducted on May 10. Vice Principal of Dow International Dental College Karachi, Dr. Asher Afaq conducted the first one on “Basic epidemiology”. He covered the principles, concepts, procedures and applications of epidemiology for conducting a research. Later, head of Ziauddin University’s Oral Pathology department, Dr Saima Butt, delivered a lecture on “Research Methodology”. She taught the participants that how the one’s approach, research design and research questions are interlinked with each other. Besides, how to frame the research question, skills and ability to collect data and feasibility of conducting research were discussed in depth. Head of Community Dentistry at BUM&DC, Dr Kulsoom Rizvi, conducted the third session on “Critical Appraisal” on May 17. She discussed the systematic assessment of a research to determine its value and relevance as well as the strengths and weaknesses of a research. Evaluation whether the study design is appropriate for the research question and assessment of the methodology was also discussed. Dr Kulsoom stressed the need for developing critical appraisal skills for identification of high-quality researches. Fourth session was conducted by Ziauddin University’s senior lecturer, Dr Sidra MohiuddinAnchor on “Basic Biostatistics” on May 24. Her lecture focused on the tools and techniques to collect data followed by its analysis, summary and interpretation. Sampling techniques of the representative population, data analysis, hypothesis testing and making inferences from the results on the population were also taught to the participants. The research training course concluded on May 31 with a hands-on session on “SPSS for Health Professionals”. It was conducted by Dr Hasan Mehdi, head of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery department at Fatima Jinnah Dental College. Participants of the session were told that for researchers to carry out their statistical analysis during the course of their research, a basic knowledge of the statistical software like SPSS was a must. The participants practiced data entry and application of different tools and tests to formulate results. Later, Dr Saima Butt presented shields to all the course instructors. The participants of the course were awarded certificates for successfully completing the research training course. At the outset of the all the sessions, participants were told that the PDC's research training workshops are aimed at bridging the widening gap in research training for undergraduate and postgraduate students. They were also informed that interactive training methods focusing on research concepts with tools and development methods were necessary for shared intellectual learning experience.-PR
