Helping medical students become better doctors

Raghul, a researcher with a Masters in Public Health, went through our courses and shares this story 

Two years ago, I embarked on evidence synthesis projects, participating in four systematic reviews across India. We never consulted an information specialist for our search strategies, unaware of their vital role.

I learned about the importance of information specialists while proposing a Cochrane systematic review, which mandates their inclusion. A friend introduced me to the QMed Knowledge Foundation and Ms. Vasumathi, who became pivotal in my research journey.

Eager to enhance my skills, I sought training from Ms. Vasumathi. With an upcoming systematic review under the "Early Career Research Grant" from RSTMH, UK, I completed QMed’s online courses on search strategy development before diving into my project.

Initially, I planned to rely on the QMed team for the entire search strategy but was encouraged to take the lead. With their support, I independently developed and translated a search strategy for six databases, overcoming my initial hesitation.

I’m proud that my peer-reviewed search strategy was crafted with guidance from an Indian information specialist. The process took three weeks, and while I know I’m not yet ready to tackle every search independently, I now feel confident in collaborating effectively with specialists.

Our team saved time during article screening thanks to Ms. Vasumathi's guidance in extracting articles from non-traditional databases like Google Scholar, ensuring we didn't miss critical studies.

My experience with the QMed team has been transformative. I look forward to future collaborations and hope more researchers in India will seek out information specialists to elevate the quality of evidence-based research.

We at QMed hope to help and mentor many such researchers!

Links:

• Our e-learning courses
• A documentary about our Foundation
• QMed Knowledge Foundation