Perceptions of postgraduate medical students and guides about dissertation: A qualitative study

Vijay Kishanrao Domple,Pankaj Motilal Kasdekar,Gajanan Charandas Soyam,Umesh S Joge,Gautam Marotrao Khakse,Rahulkumar Anil Solanke

doi:10.4103/ijcfm.ijcfm_84_23

Vijay Kishanrao Domple, Pankaj Motilal Kasdekar + Show 4 more

https://doi.org/10.4103/ijcfm.ijcfm_84_23

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Introduction: Health research during medical training is essential to encourage critical thinking and reasoning abilities and a positive attitude among postgraduate (PG) students toward scientific research throughout their medical careers. However, all may not be inclined toward research. Therefore, the present study was formulated to understand the perceptions of PG medical students and guides about dissertations. Material and Methods: The current qualitative study was conducted at a tertiary care center in Central India between December 2022 and January 2023. A total of 12 participants (9 PG students and 3 PG guides) were selected by the purposive sampling method. The Institutional Ethics Committee approved the study. For the in-depth interview with audio recording, the interview guide was used. The data were coded, and thematic analysis was done using the Microsoft Word and Excel. Results: All participants reported that PG dissertations should be an essential element in the PG curriculum, except two who raised the issue of compulsion. While participants mentioned the positive perspectives about the dissertations, like the development of research skills and expertise, they also pointed out negative perspectives, like single-topic exploration only and minimal connection to clinical practice. Many students were confused, stressed, and disoriented at the beginning of the dissertation. No separate time, patient workload, language barrier, and a lack of academic writing skills and resources were the challenges experienced. The role of a PG guide is indispensable in the process of the dissertation. They felt that the final submission of the dissertation should be at the end of the 2nd year. Conclusion: Many participants believed that the dissertation should be an essential component of the PG curriculum. The role of the PG guide is indispensable in the dissertation process. The final submission of the dissertation should be at the end of the 2nd year.

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