Research competency and specialist registration: Quo vadis ?

Szabo, CP; Ramlall, Suvira

doi:10.7196/samj.2017.v106i12.11217

Cited by 3 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 2 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…[12] There has been some agreement among MMed candidates and teaching staff that the research component is an essential part of the specialist training curriculum and has the potential to improve evidencebased practice. [13][14][15]18] However, it has also received much critical resistance from various stakeholders. Trainees are reported to feel 'resentful' of the directive, [19] and there has been consistent hope that the HPCSA might reconsider its decision.…”

Section: Mandatory Research Component For Medical Specialist Registra...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[21] The challenge was upheld, and trainees were granted a further two years to complete their research. [18] That trainees would resort to such drastic and adversarial action perhaps highlights the extent of their frustration and the challenges associated with the research component of specialist training.…”

Section: Mandatory Research Component For Medical Specialist Registra...mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

The development of research competence among specialist registrars in South Africa: Challenges and opportunities for research education and capacity development

Moxley

2022

Afr J Health Prof Educ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

To equip physicians with the competencies that support evidence-based healthcare, curriculum frameworks for medical education often promote scholarly activity as an essential component of training. Many medical schools worldwide expect medical trainees to participate in some form of research during their undergraduate and postgraduate training. This requirement is especially important in Africa, where there is also much need to develop clinical research capacity and an evidence base that is contextualised to the specific healthcare challenges on the continent. In South Africa, the requirement for specialist trainees to complete a research project (as part of a Master of Medicine, MMed) was made mandatory from 2011 and has introduced several difficulties for many training centres. There is concern that institutions are failing to develop medical specialists who are competent in their role as scholars, particularly in their ability to conduct research. In this article, I review the South African literature that discusses the research component of medical specialist registration. In addition to summarising the challenges associated with MMed projects and recent efforts to address them, I interrogate whether the current status of MMed research education is likely to be contributing to the successful development of research competence among this unique group of postgraduates. By consolidating the current debate, I hope to encourage a point of departure between criticising the challenges and adopting proactive strategies to address them. There is a great need for medical educators to design innovative and learner-centred research education strategies that can better develop research competence among African healthcare professionals.

show abstract

Section: Mandatory Research Component For Medical Specialist Registra...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Mandatory Research Component For Medical Specialist Registra...mentioning

confidence: 99%

The development of research competence among specialist registrars in South Africa: Challenges and opportunities for research education and capacity development

Moxley

2022

Afr J Health Prof Educ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…When implemented, neither the Colleges of Medicine of South Africa (CMSA) nor the HPCSA made any allowance for universities being unequally resourced to meet the 2011 MMed research requirement. [5] Aldous et al [6] argue that when meeting the requirements of the HPCSA MMed mandate, three of the difficulties training universities encounter are: acquiring research supervisors who fulfil regulatory stipulations; providing sufficient research supervision time; and allocating ringfenced time for specialist trainees to do research and attend methods courses. Elsewhere, the local FHS postgraduate research supervision culture is described as being 'haphazard, impersonal, pressurized and mechanistic' .…”

Section: Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reporting quality of Master of Medicine (MMed) mini-dissertations using the STROBE checklist

Grossman¹

2022

Afr J Health Prof Educ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background. The 2011 Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) directive to make a research component compulsory for specialist registration has been decried in some circles as encouraging low-quality research.Objective. To assess the reporting quality of South African (SA) MMed mini-dissertations using the STROBE checklist.Methods. A total of 100 monograph-format mini-dissertations reporting retrospective observational research were extracted from a pool of 335 mini- dissertations. Analysis of each was undertaken using a 24-point STROBE Statement checklist. Scoring was as follows: 1 = the item was compliant with STROBE recommendations; 0.5 = partially described; and 0 = not addressed at all. Satisfactory compliance was set at 66%, thus a STROBE score of 17-24 was considered satisfactory. Data were entered into an Excel spread sheet and analysed descriptively. Results. STROBE item compliance for individual mini-dissertations was at a mean of 83.1%; range 50-97%; median 85% and mode 89%. Sixteen mini- dissertations were non-compliant, scoring below 17 as per the set threshold of 66%. This indicates an 84% satisfactory sample. Only Item 5 (Key settings and locations) was at 100% compliance. The four lowest scores were for STROBE items (9) Bias (29.5%); (10) Study size/power analysis (52%); (1) Title (69%) and (14) Missing data (69%). Conclusion. The majority of sampled mini-dissertations, evaluated as per STROBE recommendations, are transparently reported to allow the reader to follow what was planned, done, found and which conclusions were drawn. As such the results confer a measure of reporting quality on the SA MMed research endeavour. The use of dissertation templates, commonly using STROBE-type headings and prompts, might have contributed to the good scores obtained. Importantly, areas of weakness in the writing of the SA MMed mini-dissertations have been highlighted and show which items require attention.

show abstract

“…[1] As career healthcare professionals, registrars are resentful of the directive and regard the time debt incurred as an imposition on their specialist training. [2] Registrars deem the time needed to complete the research component time effectively removed from honing their clinical skills and preparing for specialist examination. Teaching staff are equally concerned, considering that time reassigned from specialist training to research could potentially compromise the clinical competence of the graduating specialists under their care.…”

Section: Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is important to understand that such concerns are expressed wherever in the world a research component has been introduced into specialist or resident training programmes. [3][4][5][6][7][8] While South African (SA) registrars and teaching staff see merit in research-relevant learning, [2] the time needed to fulfil such a requirement within the 4-year specialist training period remains a sticking point. However, to date no empirical data exist to show the time debt of the research project during clinical training.…”

Section: Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

How long does it take a registrar to complete the compulsory research project enabling specialist registration?

Grossman

2019

S Afr Med J

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background. The 2011 Health Professions Council of South Africa mandate requires a research component in the form of an MMed degree to permit specialist registration. Registrars consider that the time required to complete an MMed interferes with clinical training, service delivery obligations, and study and exam time. Net research time to completion is difficult to establish because MMed research activity is often intermittent, starting and finishing anywhere within the 4-year clinical training period. Conversely, gross dissertation completion time (DCT) is easily calculated by subtracting the ethics approval date from the dissertation submission date. Objectives. To use gross DCT as a proxy to assess the time needed by registrars to finish the required research project. Additionally, the effect of four variables, namely dissertation format, clinical discipline, university research resources and the introduction of the 2011 ruling on gross DCT, was determined. Methods. The sample was 213 MMed dissertations, downloaded from the public domain. The dissertation submission date was subtracted from the ethics approval date to give the gross DCT in months. Descriptive analysis and χ 2 testing were used to determine the effects of the four variables on gross DCT, with significance set at p<0.05. A 12-month proposal preparation time was added to the gross DCT to fully reflect the MMed research timeline. Results. Sampled dissertations were from 2005 to 2017 and all eight MMed training universities were represented, as were 23 clinical disciplines. The mean (standard deviation) gross DCT was 31.0 (19.6) months, with a wide completion range of 0.2-109 months. When 12 months' proposal preparation time was added, gross mean research completion time rose to 43 months (31 + 12 = 43). A mere 41% of dissertations were sufficiently concluded to free up the final year for exam preparation. Gross DCT was not significantly affected by the 2011 requirement, university resources or clinical discipline. Dissertation format (publication ready v. monograph) significantly decreased gross DCT (p=0.01). Conclusions. Large standard deviations and a wide range of finishing times detract from the positive findings that most dissertations were completed within the 4-year clinical training time period. Publication-ready dissertations significantly shortened MMed completion time. Unique study and work commitments and lack of research experience challenge speedy MMed completion. Existing research and supervisory supportive structures should be remodelled to better suit the research needs of the andragogic specialist registrar.

show abstract

Research competency and specialist registration: Quo vadis ?

Cited by 3 publications

References 2 publications

The development of research competence among specialist registrars in South Africa: Challenges and opportunities for research education and capacity development

The development of research competence among specialist registrars in South Africa: Challenges and opportunities for research education and capacity development

Reporting quality of Master of Medicine (MMed) mini-dissertations using the STROBE checklist

How long does it take a registrar to complete the compulsory research project enabling specialist registration?

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About