By Kingsley Emmanuel
SPARTAN Health Science University School of Medicine held it’s first-ever research seminar last week, aimed at preparing its students to become successful researchers.
Over 50 students were evaluated and graded on a poster presentation during the seminar, which generated much interest among the participating students.
They were evaluated by Phil Leon and Janice Gaspard of the Epidemiology Unit of the Ministry of Health and faculty staff of Spartan.
At the end of their presentations, the top three groups of students were rewarded for their excellent poster presentations.
The poster presentation was followed by a seminar on Chronic Respiratory Disease which was presented by students of the school whose presentations were impressive.
In an interview with The Voice, Dr. Rajeev Pandey, a professor at the school, said the poster presentation will be an annual event, adding that it will be improved in the future, since the students were given some much-needed advice by the evaluators on how to improve on their presentations.
“The students learnt a lot from the seminar. They were given ideas from the evaluators as to what is required in such poster presentations, which will enable them to become good researchers,” Pandey said.
He added that the evaluators were satisfied with the efforts of the students.
“The feedback from the evaluators regarding the performance of the students was excellent,” Pandey said.
Leon, a Biostatistician, applauded the school for undertaking such an initiative.
“It will help to give the students a well- rounded research background,” he said, adding that “it is good for aspiring doctors to have a research mind.”
Janice Gaspard, a research officer, said she was quite impressed by the topic presented and the seminar will go a long way in improving the knowledge of the students.
Public Health Epidemiology lecturer at Spartan, Lydia Atkins, said the seminar will encourage the students to take a lead role in research, especially as it relates to public health.
“The students expressed confidence in their presentations and knowledge of the material…”Atkins said.
“I hope we can see improvement in the field of medicine and medical practices as it relates to the continual use of evidence in decision making and the management of patients,” she added.
A booklet will be launched on the seminar sometime in the future.