Medical Research For Starters-All The Stuff You Need To Know

If the first thought that comes to your mind when you think of research at med schools is of someone wearing fancy lab coats and goggles juggling with colorful potions,then you definitely need to rewire your thought processes.Medical student research isn't about dancing to rainbows.

 Research at undergrad level is altogether different and taxing beyond exhaustion;for most of the times you have no idea where you are going.It's just like walking down a dark alley;you know what you want and where you want to go but at the same time you are lost.Turn on the lights someone?pretty please!!

It does not matter whether you are one of those students digging down for hidden answers and explanations,driven by passion,or the one who just wants the number of publications starring on resume as long as you know where you are going.

So,let's break down the hoopla.Doing research and getting publications under your belt isn't all that it's cracked up to be.

Medical research and why is it important:

Re-search other than bringing hidden facts to light and adding to the plethora of knowledge that's already there also also helps you in securing a good residency position(for some people it's only the latter :p).There are different kinds viz quantitative and qualitative and then comes the experimental trials where you experiment with different interventions and evaluate the effect of drug/technique and all the fancy stuff like that,but this is the glow stick you won't get to play with.It's a pretty detailed topic and you really don't need to mess over this one as long as you aren't majoring in Clinical research.All you got to know is that the kind of research for starters is the quantitative one which I'm breaking down here.

Topic

Your topic should be clear and concise,it's the thing which will show up in search results and make someone read your Big Bang theory.Ever heard of marketing your products?Well,a good topic will sell your article just like a piece of hot cake,just like a good ad sells products.Too boring statements are a no-go zone!

Objectives

Simple,to the point,not more than one or two.Your whole study and analysis revolves around this.If you don't want your project to be a pain in ass then better jot down one question or maximum two that you are going to answer with your research.More questions= more hassles in analysis,which you won't be able to fully discuss later on in results.So,it's better to take wise steps from the start.

Literature Review

Okay,so until now you have a freakingly awesome title and you have clearly set research questions,what next?Here comes the literature review,in which as the name suggests you review the already available information on that topic,just like stalking someone's timeline on social networks and see what they have been doing all this time.You have to extensively go through search engines mostly Google Scholar and PubMed to look for already available research articles related to your topic,which infact is tiresome;no matter how much data you gather it's never enough.This meme very well sums up the misery:p

You review the already available information and then rewrite in your own words.Seems pretty easy,right? But no no no no it's really a torture trying to find articles similar to your topic with open access.Majority of good articles are paid with only abstract view available to read.That can help you a bit but it's just like a little summary that's not of much help.Sometimes,you might even end up finding a research that addresses similar research questions as yours and all passion goes zooops down the drain:p

Methodology:

Here comes the difficult stuff which most med students have no idea about.Getting help from a statistician doesn't hurt,okay? Community Medicine Professors are right there to save you:D

Choose a methodology that goes with your objectives and make sure its simple and cost effective.It's really a whole another subject,far more then the length and breadth of this whole universe so I'm briefly touching it.

In this you have to mention your sample size,study design,data collecting tool,data analysis methodology,statistical tests applied and the softwares used.A failed methodology leads to a lack luster research.

Sample size should be adequate,not too small and not too large.While small samples can raise suspicion of verity of data,too large can dwindle your bank accounts.

 Study design depends on what point in time are you undertaking the research: retrospective/prospective/cross sectional and the list goes on.All you need to know is the basics,that's it.

Well,there's much more to it but I don't wanna freeze your shits here:p

Data collecting tool in most instances is the questionnaire.For questionnaire setting go for standard preset ones but here again the problem comes in of what your objectives are.You just can't keep throwing random questions,you have to follow a format. Likert scale is widely used as responses are easy to analyze.Remember:Don't just make a list of 50-100 questions.Keep it concise and simple with 10/20questions at most otherwise people won't fill it honestly( trust me,it has happened to me) If it can be filled in a couple of minutes,you are good to go!

Data analysis software most widely used is SPSS,it's simple to use with web tutorials that easily teach you the basics.You don't have to mess over this one,because it's just a piece of cake or may be not.

Results

All you need to do here is create tables of your results that you analyzed through SPSS.Apply appropriate statistical tests and obtain significance levels where deemed necessary.Don't be sad if your results nullify your study rationale.

The game is still not over,your research can still aid in understanding of elusive medical science.

Discussion 

That's the last and most important part of a research article.It's where you compare and discuss your results with other published studies.You justify your findings and explain all your significant results.Gotcha!!

So,if you have 50 questions and each question has to be compared to 1/2studies so in discussion that means juggling to find so many citations,that too with keeping in mind we don't have open access to most articles and abstract discussion covers only the most important results.So,plan smartly,clear and few objectives will make half of the things simple for you otherwise u'll look something like this:

Just start with one research question in mind,some people start with many and then later break down their article into three or four,but I guess it's better to have a clear vision from the start rather than breaking things down later.

The publication:

Write the abstract,arrange your article in a way demanded by the specific journal in which you want to publish and you are good to go.Be careful about the citations and make sure they follow the standards:either Vancouver/APA/Harvard and so on.Check with the journal and ask their requirements.You can even use different citation softwares to make things easy for you.

Funds

Hey, no one told me about the money! Ouch,that hurts!

Try to get some grants and if not,better publish in your college's journal as you might get a waiver:p Something is better than nothing.

One useful tip*

 Research is one of the areas where you should definitely become a social animal even though how reticent and anti social you love to be.Without a mentor who's more experienced than you are,you are only going to come up with fifty shades of crap.You slack after sometime so always choose co-workers who can keep you on right track and make sure the leader of the pack is someone who's going to stand tough and upright in the face of storms,who pushes everyone high.Divide the jobs and make sure everyone does that.

Good luck!Feel free to contact if you need any help.

Guest Blogger: Raiya Rehman

She can be reached out at raiya.rehman@icloud.com

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