TAXILLA: The Principles of Clinical Research Course for Health Professionals accredited by NUMS (National University Of Medical Sciences) was arranged as a part of faculty development program recently. The course was facilitated by Brig Dr M Nazir Khan, Dr Irfan Shah, Dr Mahmoud Badran (Egypt), Dr Ananhi Hurtado (Switzerland), and Dr Shahreen Zahid Khan.
The first session began with recitation followed by introduction and presentation of the schedule and course format by Dr Shahreen Zahid Khan. Dr Irfan Shah then spoke about the importance of evidence-based dentistry and its critical need for implementation in daily professional practices. Brig Nazir Khan conducted a discussion on identifying and developing a practical clinical problem for research. The session also included lectures by international guest speakers, Dr Mahmoud Badran and Dr Ananhi Hurtado, on the topic of study designs and medical ethics respectively.
The second session focused on ethics committees and informed consent, with Dr Shahreen Zahid Khan leading a hands-on exercise on composing an ethics committee and Dr Irfan Shah discussing the importance of obtaining informed consent in a proper manner. Brig Nazir Khan led a hands-on exercise on developing a structured research question.
The third session emphasised the importance of an effective literature review and critical appraisal of academic literature. Dr Shahreen Zahid Khan led a hands-on activity on the critical appraisal of literature, with participants divided into groups and allotted a portion of a curated article for the activity. The session concluded with the awarding of a certificate of facilitation and shield to Brig Nazir Khan and a group photograph of all attendees.
Overall, the first day of the Principles of Clinical Research Course was a comprehensive and engaging experience for the participants, covering various important aspects of clinical research.
The second day of the "Principles of Clinical Research Course for Health Professionals" was held the day after. The day was facilitated by Brig Alamgir Khan, Dr Irfan Shah and Dr Shahreen Zahid Khan.
The day started with welcome remarks and introductions followed by an interactive session on the basics of statistics by Brig Alamgir Khan. It was followed by a session on hypothesis testing and P value. Brig Alamgir Khan also conducted a practical exercise to implement the concepts of statistics.
The session continued with Dr. Irfan Shah's lecture on sample size calculation followed by a practical exercise conducted by Brig Alamgir Khan.After that Dr Shahreen Zahid conducted an introduction and practical exercise on reference management.
The day concluded with a conclusion and certificates being handed out to the participants. The participants found the sessions informative and engaging.
