Abstract
Objective:To justify the allocation of human and financial resources, this study aims to identify multiple stakeholders’ views of medical education research priorities in Pakistan for the next five years.Methods:This two-stage exploratory mixed-method study was conducted from Jan 2018 to Jun 2019. A purposively selected sample of 250 faculty members, research supervisors, postgraduate students, undergraduate students and policymakers actively involved in improving Medical Education were included. In Stage-I: An exploratory open-ended questionnaire asking about Medical Education Research (MER) priorities in Pakistan for the next five years was emailed. Data were thematically analyzed to identify MER areas. In Stage-II: Another questionnaire was developed based on MER areas. The participants were asked to rate their importance on a scale of one to five. Descriptive statistics were calculated using SPSS.v.24.Results:In Stage-I, 140 participants and in Stage-II, 130 participants from different stakeholder groups responded. We identified 20 research priorities grouped under eight themes: curriculum organization, content, delivery, assessment, workplace, students, faculty and educational management. Top three research priorities were identifying needs and developing effective provisions for continuous professional development of the faculty, improving assessment and communication skills.Conclusion:The study identified top MER priority areas as continuous professional development, assessment and communication skills. Some areas unique to the current study include admissions, fostering critical thinking, Islamic values in professionalism and ethics. The study provides evidence-base for decision-making about allocating time and funds for MER in Pakistan.
Highlights
Medical education has emerged notably as a specialty in many countries abroad, but in Pakistan it has been recognized relatively recently
Medical education research aims at developing an understanding of teaching and learning by studying interactions, interventions and phenomena, Pak J Med Sci May - June 2021 Vol 37 No 3 www.pjms.org.pk 684 providing evidence-base to medical educators and policymakers.[4]
Questionnaire: In Stage-I: An exploratory openended qualitative questionnaire was developed asking the participants about three Medical Education Research (MER) priorities in Pakistan for the five years
Summary
Medical education has emerged notably as a specialty in many countries abroad, but in Pakistan it has been recognized relatively recently. The interest in medical education can be evaluated by the increasing number of postgraduate programmes in this field worldwide (7 to 126+) and Pakistan (2 to 8), over the last two decades.[1] Such programmes improve knowledge and encourage transformational changes in educational practices with development as teacher, learner leader and researcher.[1,2] These roles of a medical educator have been recognized in the literature.[3]. Research in the respective specialty has been formally linked with promotions of the faculty
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