DISSERTATION WRITING: AN ANALYSIS OF VARIOUS BARRIERS TO ITS SUCCESS IN PROMOTING RESEARCH CULTURE IN PAKISTAN

Objective: To identify evidence of success or otherwise of measures like dissertation to promote high quality medical research in the students undergoing postgraduate specialty training despite of many efforts, the quality of medical research in the country remains in turmoil and unrest prevails in the medical community as well. Study Design: Cross-sectional survey. Place and Duration of Study: Combined Military Hospital Lahore Pakistan, from Jan 2017 to Dec 2018. Methodology: This study was conducted by using Google forms, interviewing the college’s affiliates, which include supervisors, fresh graduates and current trainees using a structured questionnaire, to get an idea of the participants’ view regarding magnitude of the problem, its causes and possible solution. Results: A total of 94 participants responded to the online questionnaire. Among these, 34 (36%) fell in the age group 29-34 years, followed by 19 (20.2%) in the age group 35-40 years. Among the participants, 56 (59.6%) were females. Sixty-six (74%) participants agreed that dissertation writing was not an effective tool in promoting research culture in the country. Conclusion: The current system of Dissertation-writing is not efficient in promoting research skills of the postgraduate trainees and systemic improvements are urgently needed, which would also brighten the image of medical education in the country.