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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Avicenna J Med 2022; 12(03): 127-137
DOI: 10.1055/s-0042-1755387
Original Article

Medical Research Conduct and Publication during Higher Education in Syria: Attitudes, Barriers, Practices, and Possible Solutions

Ibrahem Hanafi 
1   Division of Neurology, Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Damascus University, Damascus, Syria
,
Luma Haj Kassem 
2   Department of Otolaryngology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Aleppo, Aleppo, Syria
,
Mouaz Hanafi
3   Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Faculty of Dentistry, Damascus University, Damascus, Syria
,
Sulafa Ahmad
4   Department of Dermatology, Faculty of Medicine, Tishreen University, Latakia, Syria
,
Ola Abbas
5   Faculty of Pharmacy, Damascus University, Damascus, Syria
,
Mohammad Younis Hajeer 
6   Department of Orthodontics, Dental School, University of Damascus, Damascus, Syria
,
Marah Alsalkini 
7   Faculty of Medicine, Albaath University, Homs, Syria
,
Fares Alahdab 
8   Evidence-based Practice Center, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, United States
› Author Affiliations Funding None.
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Abstract

Background: The huge workload on doctors especially residents, who are the main health care providers in public hospitals, in addition to the vanishing incomes and lack of personal safety during the decade-long Syrian crisis, led to further hurdles in the focus on research. Postgraduate students in the medical and paramedical fields must conduct original research projects as part of their graduation requirements. However, this does not reflect on research publications coming from Syria.

Methods: This is a nation-wide cross-sectional study targeting medical, dental, and pharmacy postgraduate students who are at the phase of planning for their required projects. The questionnaire aimed to capture their attitudes toward research, perceived barriers, and previous research experiences in order to suggest evidence-based recommendations.

Results: The sample consisted of 429 residents representing about 22% of the target population. Nearly all the participants had positive opinion toward the important role of medical research and the significance of their participation. Agreement was also clear regarding perceived barriers, including the lack of adequate training and research facility. Seventy-one percent of the participants were not involved in any research before the time of their master theses, less than 13% of them had submitted an article for publication, and less than 5% had submitted more than one paper. Despite that, high-quality internet connectivity and rich English writing skills were associated with further research experiences. Additionally, mentors' support and self-paced learning of research skills had significant positive impact on students' research contributions with odds ratios of 2.04 [[95% Confidence Interval]: 1.02–4.06] and 2.68 [1.48–4.84], respectively.

Conclusion: Lack of training and mentorship, in addition to several common barriers to medical research, hampered residents' capacity of conducting and publishing research despite their positive attitudes toward it. Nevertheless, the variance within our sample exposed a promising window for implementing low-cost institutional and individual solutions such as peer-run self-paced training opportunities and long-distance mentoring.

Keywords

research contributions - publication practices - postgraduate students - Syrian crisis - residents' attitudes - institutional barriers

Note

The study covered six universities in the five major cities in Syria. The dataset supporting the conclusions of this article is available and can be submitted/uploaded upon request.


Ethical Approval and Consent to Participate

Ethical approval for this study was obtained through Damascus University, and it complies with the Declaration of Helsinki 1975, as revised in 2013. Participants were informed about the aims of the study and were asked to provide their consent to participate at the beginning of the questionnaire. Participation was completely voluntary, with the assurance of confidentiality.


Authors' Contributions

I.H. prepared the online questionnaire. I.H., L.H. K., S. A., M.H., and O.A. collected the data from the different universities. S.A. and L.H.K. drafted the introduction and the methods sections, respectively. M.H., L.H.K., and I. H. analyzed the data and drafted the results section. O. A., M.H., L.H.K., M.A., and I.H. drafted the discussion. F. A. and M.Y.H. supervised data collection and analysis and provided insights for the discussion. All authors critically revised and approved the final version of the manuscript.




Publication History

Article published online:
29 August 2022

© 2022. Syrian American Medical Society. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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