QMedCONNECT April 2021 - Preprint servers in kidney disease research and more

QMedCONNECT: Highlights

April 2021

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What do we have for you this month?

We are a week late with this issue - as we experienced pandemic related challenges. We pray for everyone's safety. We share our blog posts on when and why literature searching must be taught. With some concrete examples. We have compiled our social media posts on World Events - with links to PubMed results on the topic - reviews and systematic reviews

The QMed Team

From our Blog - Our CEO's Posts

Vasumathi Sriganesh this month writes about why Undergraduates must be taught literature searching and referencing skills. She also shares how QMed has helped a physician with his systematic review search for an international academic program that he is doing. How access to resources alone was not enough for him to work on his search. Then she shares about an event at a conference, where there was a comment on meta-analyses and how such comments could actually do (unintentional) harm!

Teaching skills in Literature Searching & Referencing at the Undergraduate level - a must!

For years I have mentioned to academicians that literature searching and referencing skills are best taught in the undergraduate days. In the early days the response I often got was - "UG students should first study text books. They can learn all this later". Then things changed a bit. Conferences for undergrad students were held. Students presented posters and oral talks. The ICMR STS projects penetrated further and more colleges started having more students participate. QMed was invited to conduct workshops in several events. And in every workshop the feedback from UG students was almost overwhelming. They were thrilled to have learnt these skills.

Access alone is not enough. Train everybody

Dr GN is a faculty in a medical college. He is registered for QMedCourses and approached me with a request for help. He is studying for an additional degree in an institution in the UK and has to write a systematic review as part of the program. He said that the requirement was that he had to do it all by himself and could not get a team to work with him. While this is unusual as systematic reviews are ideally done by a team (to reduce bias), in this case the objective of solo working is to learn every detail and appreciate the depth of work involved.

Meta-analyses: Do not rely on them

I got your attention there, did I not? Well - that is NOT my statement. I am quoting a senior professional from one of the super specialties in surgery. I heard this person mentioning this in a conference of the said super-specialty a few years ago. He was from one of the top medical institutions in India. I figured that he was an expert in his discipline, going by the talk he delivered and the several questions he was asked.

To learn more - teach more. Pros and cons

It is said - The more you teach, the better you learn. As I taught in different contexts in my life, I learnt more ABOUT teaching! What often happens when people teach something that is not part of their training. This in the context of online searching skills. Good people teach with the best of intentions but ....

From our Social Media Posts- International Observances

The month of April has six observances. We searched PubMed for articles of interest in each of these areas. We have provided "PubMed search results" - which link to the search we did, retrieving reviews and systematic reviews that are available free.

World Autism Day - 2nd Apr - PubMed results Our FB post

World Health Day - 7th Apr - PubMed results Our FB post

World Chagas Disease Day - 14th Apr - PubMed search results FB Post

World Hemophilia Day - 17th Apr - PubMed results FB post

World Liver Day - 19th Apr - PubMed results FB post

World Malaria Day - 25th Apr - PubMed results FB post

Interesting Articles

Preprint server use in kidney disease research: a rapid review

Vlasschaert C, Giles C, Hiremath S, Lanktree MB. Preprint Servers in Kidney Disease Research: A Rapid Review. Clin J Am Soc Nephrol. 2021 Mar 8;16(3):479-486

The world needs research information to be available quickly for scientific progress. But the lag between completion of a study and its publication can be long - sometimes as high as a year! Preprints - or results of a study not yet formally published are a source of latest research information. Read this article about medrxiv - a preprint server for medical preprints and its use in kidney disease research .

https://www.medrxiv.org/.../23/2020.03.16.20036590.full.pdf

#medicalresearch #preprints #preprintservers #medrxiv #medicalwriting

Lectures & Webinars this month

05-04-2021 - YMT Ayurvedic Medical College & Hospital - 50 participants. Topic - Literature search (Webinar)

15-04-2021 - YMT Ayurvedic Medical College & Hospital - 50 participants. Topic - Literature search (Webinar)

25-04-2021 - APM’s Ayurved Mahavidyalaya, Sion. Topic - 40 participants. Topic - Literature search (Webinar)

QMedCourses News

New Institution: AIIMS Kalyani (Weste Bengal) - has subscribed to our courses in April

We present some current statistics about the overall progress of our courses.

Course	Certified	Total Enrolled
Information Resources & Literature Searching (IRLS)	298	2491
Introduction to Referencing (IR)	202	532
Mastering PubMed (PM)	122	2108
Reference Management with Mendeley (RMM)	101	2108

Testimonials for QMedCourses

Course: Information Resources & Literature Searching
I haven’t finished the full course yet and even learning so much has helped me in my searches and understanding relevant journals and articles. PUBMED was so daunting initially and now I find it really interesting and a simple yet efficient tool. Neha Sharma, Senior Resident, Surgical Gastroenterology, Sir Gangaram Hospital, New Delhi

Course : Introduction to Referencing
Crisp lectures, in simple language with adequate recaps. Well done. Nagesh Simha, Consultant in Palliative Medicine - Karunashraya Hospice

Course : Mastering PubMed
The topics were covered in short lectures and with online examples and exercises for easy understanding and long term retention. Subarna Mitra, AIIMS, Bhubaneshwar

Course : Reference Management with Mendeley
The course is very engrossing. The whole course is a great learning experience because of excellent deliberation by the faculty. Manisha Kar, AIIMS Bhubaneshwar.

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