Pakistan Medical Students’ Research Society

FEB 2012 VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1

PMSRS Newsletter

research methodology by con-

ducting events such as semi-

nars and workshops along with

various projects under its um-

brella e.g. Student-Journal

Club, Poster/Abstract Presenta-

tions etc.

Pakistan Medical Students Re-

search Society (PMSRS) is an

organization set up by the stu-

dents of Dow Medical College,

Karachi, Pakistan. that aims to

comprehensively educate and

inform medical students in the

field of medical research and

provides opportunities for bet-

ter interaction amongst the

students and medical person-

als. It provides a platform that

encourages and supports re-

search based learning amongst

people related to the field of

medicine and promotes better

Our Aim...

What's going on at PMSRS

Following are the updates from

PMSRS:

“Research Link, the Student

Mentor Project” was started

aiming to bridge the communica-

tion gap bringing students close

to researcher.

PMSRS started a unique Stu-

dent Journal Club session cur-

rently introduced at Dow Medi-

cal College Karachi, Pakistan aim-

ing to expand it to other universi-

ties in future, serving as a inter-

active platform to learn and

share.

A newsletter is released bian-

nually aiming to update about

the society’s current projects and

achievements. A project named

“Research Program assistance”

has been organized helping stu-

dents to develop Research Post-

ers, Oral Presentations and as-

sisting in poster printing cost.

Another helpful program

“Abstract Writing Assistance” has

been included for members of

this society helping them in en-

hancing the quality of their

abstracts thus increasing

chances of acceptance.

Stable organizations like Essa

Laboratories, SOCH, (Serve our

civil hospital) PWA (Pakistan

Welfare Association), 4th Na-

tional Undergraduate Medical

Research Fair PMC, National

Academy of Young Scientists

and NAM (National Academy

of Microbiologists) are official

partners with PMSRS.

Pakistan Medical Students

Research Society joined hands

with Doctors and Medical Stu-

dents Flood Relief Campaign

(DSFRC) in order to help peo-

ple from Flood affected areas.

PMSRS has many interna-

tional collaborations which

includes the following:

Sharing In Health (SiH), an

emerging organization de-

signed to address the shortage

of primary health care provid-

ers in low-resource settings by

increasing training capacity.

HIFA2015 campaign launched

in Mombasa, Kenya in October

2006, at the 10th Congress of

the Association for Health In-

formation and Libraries in Af-

rica aiming to provide access to

every person worldwide to an

informed healthcare provider.

HIFA is a UK based organiza-

tion and is supported by WHO.

Advance Educational Insti-

tute and Research Centre

(AEIRC), Karachi, Pakistan in-

volved in Research promotion

in Pakistan and conducting

research projects related to

clinical and basic sciences,.

Medicalopedia is an online

encyclopedia also partnering

with PMSRS.

All the press releases and

bulletins are available from

now via twitter by SMS to our

followers, updating about

PMSRS’ new events.

Special points

of interest:

•Nationwide members

•Research workshops

for students.

•Collaboration with

global organizations..

•Working together with

a strong advisory board.

Inside this issue:

Iniating Research 2

Introduction to SPSS 3

Workshop at JMDC 4

Joining hands with MAP

5

Manuscript Writing 5

Students’ Journal Club 6

PMSRS in ZU 6

Words from

PMSRS President

5

PAGE 2 PMSRS NEWSLETTER

The first workshop by Pakistan

Medical Students’ Research Society

was organized in Dow Medical Col-

lege on 18th February, 2011. A total

of 40 participants attended this

workshop that was conducted by Dr.

Masood Jawaid,, Asst. Professor,

Dept. of Surgery, Dow International

Medical College.

He started off by shedding light on

the steps in planning and conducting

a research and how to design a

study questionnaire. He then gave a

web based demonstration on litera-

ture search along with highlighting

the common mistakes committed

during literature review.

Keeping in view that the most

participants were in the first two

years of their medical schooling, Dr

Masood Jawaid stressed on the dif-

ferent kinds of studies (e.g. Knowl-

edge Attitude and Practice, surveys,

clinical audits, etc.) and their signifi-

cance for the undergraduate stu-

dents. Participant were engrossed

all through the session as evident by

their ardent interaction with Dr.

Masood who earnestly satisfied all

their queries regarding the common

problems faced during research

projects and the role of supervisors

in studies. ICMJE (International

Committee of Medical Journal Edi-

tors) guidelines for the authorship

criteria were discussed with ornate

details. The hands-on session for

designing a questionnaire for Survey

based Studies received an imposing

response by the participants who

keenly took part in the session.

Later, each questionnaire was indi-

vidually inspected and discussed.

Chief Guest Mr. Akhtar Shaheen

Rind, General Secretary, Association

of Health Journalists’ Pakistan and

Special Guest Dr. Farhan Essa Abdul-

lah, Assistant Prof. Pathology, Dow

Medical College delivered their

speeches lauding the efforts of

PMSRS for promoting research prac-

tices amongst medical stu-

dents. Shields were later presented

to the Facilitators.

Students at ‘how to initiate a medi-

cal research’ workshop.

Initiating a Medical Research

field and part of the finest teaching

staff at one of the leading medical

universities of Pakistan, Prof. Sid-

diqui captivated the audience with

his expertise and teaching skills.

At first, the workshop focused on

the need of research at the under-

graduate level, its benefits and its

significance in the medical profes-

sion. After establishing a firm base

about research and its importance,

Prof. Siddiqui expertly moved on to

explain the basic elements of re-

search such as selecting the topic,

the literature review, Performa mak-

ing etc. Finally, the workshop ended

by a question answer session fol-

lowed by hands-on practice of how

to make a questionnaire and the

technicalities associated with it.

To sum it up, the second PMSRS

workshop on the basic elements of

The second PMSRS workshop held

on the 26th

of March, 2011 was a

bashing success. Under the topic

Basic Elements of a Research Pro-

posal, it was conducted by Dr. An-

war Ali Siddiqui, Professor and Asso-

ciate Dean of Research at the De-

partment of Biological and Biomedi-

cal Sciences, Aga Khan University,

Pakistan.

Hosted by Tahseer Khan, the work-

shop started at 9 am sharp. Begin-

ning with Tilawat-e-Quran, the ses-

sion proceeded with a brief intro-

duction of the aims and objectives of

PMSRS and its aspiration to change

the Pakistan medical research sce-

nario in the coming years through

workshops and seminars. Thereaf-

ter, Prof. Siddiqui began his presen-

tations regarding the basic elements

of research. Being an expert in his

research was widely accepted and

appreciated. It served the prime

purpose of PMSRS, which is to gen-

erate awareness and help under-

graduate medical students build firm

basics regarding the esteemed field

of research.

Dr. Anwar Ali Siddiqui giving pre-

cious guidelines to young medical

students.

Elements of a Research Proposal

PAGE 3 VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1

Statistical analysis is essential for

any research process. Even the ex-

perienced doctors have to rely on

statisticians for executing analysis

for their researches. Thorough

knowledge of SPSS is a skill that

proves competency for any research

electives. These days, mention of

such skills makes a CV shine out

among the rest. PMSRS as per its

dogma to help the young research-

ers of Pakistan realized this growing

demand. In this regard, the team

organized SPSS workshop on 19th

May, 2011 that was conducted by a

renowned research faculty member

of Aga Khan University Hospital.

The speaker was remarkably suc-

cessful in creating an interactive and

learning ambiance for the partici-

pants. Every participant got an indi-

vidual computer to practice on. The

workshop was divided into sub-

theoretical and practice sessions.

During each practice session, the

speaker and facilitators solved the

queries of the participants and

helped them perform satisfactorily.

It was made sure that every partici-

pant got hold of sufficient time to

perform analysis before proceeding

to the next demonstration.

With this impressive workshop,

PMSRS yet again proved to be the

ultimate platform for the young and

thriving medical researchers across

the country.

SPSS is the most important soft-

ware to evaluate and analyze the

data collected during researches of

various sorts. The aim of PMSRS is to

equip medical students with all the

knowledge and confidence required

to conduct a standard research and

to make the experience worthwhile.

The third workshop organized dis-

cussed and taught the basic funda-

mentals of this software. Titled

students gaining valuable knowl-

edge regarding SPSS from our facili-

tators.

“Introduction to SPSS”, it was held

on the 25th

April, 2011. The facilita-

tor of the workshop was Mr. Masood

Hameed Rao, Senior Research Offi-

cer in Pakistan Medical Research

Council, Pakistan. It was held at a

Digital Library and students belong-

ing to Dow Medical College and Insti-

tute of Medical Technicians attended

the workshop.

The participants displayed ardent

interest in learning and comprehend-

ing the essentials of the research

software. The session concluded

with certificate distribution among

the workshop participants to boost

their interest. A shield was pre-

sented to Mr. Rao for his kind super-

vision. Refreshments concluded the

event.

Altogether, the event was a great

success and the PMSRS team was

applauded for its continuing efforts

in setting a research trend among

the medical youth.

Introduction to Statistical Package for the Social Sciences

Our facilitator Kashmira Nanji from AKU giving fundamental instructions

regarding the use of SPSS in analyzing data.

PAGE 4 PMSRS NEWSLETTER

PMSRS organized a seminar

“Significance of research” at Jinnah

Medical and Dental College (JMDC)

on Thursday, 21st July, 2011. The

seminar was a remarkable event for

PMSRS to establish its new chapter

at JMDC. We invited Dr. Zainab

Hasan Waqar , Head of the depart-

ment of Community health science,

JMDC , as a guest speaker. She high-

lighted the importance of research

in medicine and gave an insight view

of the contribution of Pakistan in

this regard. She encouraged the au-

dience to come forward and take

part in research activities for the

development and welfare of the

society.

Other faculty members also spoke

to the audience to give them aware-

ness about significance of research

in today’s scientific age and ap-

plauded the initiative of Pakistan

medical students’ research society.

At the end of the seminar, Akhtar

Amin Memon, the president of

PMSRS gave a presentation about

the vision of the society and its on-

going activities.

At the moment PMSRS is working

more efficiently in collaboration

with JMDC to promote research

among medical students.

Explaining the significance of research at JMDC

to provide a learning environment

for the participants. On the first day,

essentials of biomedical research

were discussed. The participants

were divided into four groups and

told to generate ideas to carry out a

research study. Four ideas were se-

lected and each group was assigned

one research idea to work upon.

In subsequent days, a deep insight

was given to the

participants on

literature search,

building rational

and objectives of

the study, writing

an introduction,

different types of

study design, sam-

pling techniques,

sample size calcu-

The vision of Pakistan Medical Stu-

dents’ Research Society is to develop

a research culture among medical

students and help them conduct

their own researches during their

early professional period. In this

regard, PMSRS conducted a six days

workshop on Research Methodology

at Jinnah Medical and Dental College

from 22nd

- 27th

Aug, 2011. The

workshop was facilitated by doctors

from Community Medicine, Aga

Khan University, Dr. Shiraz Shaikh,

Dr. Amin Pethani and Dr. Asma Reh-

man. The principal and senior facul-

ties from JMDC were also invited.

The objectives of the workshop

were to give a clear idea on how to

conduct a medical research and to

develop research protocols. The

workshop was interactive and activ-

ity based and every effort was made

lation, research ethics and question-

naire development. Each group de-

veloped a questionnaire on their

research study and presented their

research protocols on the last day.

The workshop was a thorough suc-

cess and ended with certificate dis-

tribution ceremony.

Research Methodology

Dr. Zainab Waqar conducting a session on significance of research at

Students attending ‘Research methodology’ workshop

PAGE 5 VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1

ogy, PMSRS conducted yet another

workshop on the highly suggested

topic of manuscript writing.

The workshop was held in the

premises of Dow Medical College and

facilitated by Dr. Saba Sohail, Profes-

sor, Department of Radiology, Dow

University of Health Sciences and

Civil Hospital, Karachi. Dr. Saba Sohail

also serves as an Assistant Editor of

Journal of College of Physicians and

Surgeons (JCPSP), Pakistan.

The workshop covered all the basic

steps of writing and submitting a

scientific paper for publication in a

After consecutive workshops on dif-

ferent aspects of research methodol-

high-impact journal. It also high-

lighted the common issues and pit-

falls faced by authors in preparation

of a manuscript. Basic instructions

were provided by our facilitator on

basic elements of synopsis to a full

article writing. The informative and

interactive session was attended by

32 students from different medical

colleges of Karachi.

The workshop received high appre-

ciation from the participants and

turned out to be another success for

PMSRS. Certificates and shield were

presented to the participants and

facilitator.

Workshop on ‘Manuscript Writing’

It has been a year

since PMSRS was

initiated. This has

been a journey of

dedicated work,

development of

innovative ideas,

and building up of a team that has

made PMSRS one of the most success-

ful student-based organizations in Paki-

stan. However, there is much more

that we plan to do to achieve our goal

of promoting research among medical

students; and I believe it is going to be

a long journey from now; but with the

continuing endeavors and hardwork,

we will definitely be achieving it in

coming years.

I want to thank all the team members

from all of our chapters, the advisory

board members, our partner organiza-

tions for believing in us, and becoming

a part of our successful first year.

Microbiology Association of Paki-

stan (MAP) is a non- profit organiza-

tion and is a brain child of young mi-

crobiologists who are dedicated and

devoted where they can share and

update the latest advancements and

knowledge of microbiology.

MAP2010 was founded by Sikander

Sherwani, faculty member at Federal

Urdu University (FUU), Pakistan.

Pakistan Medical Students’ Re-

search Society conducted a Seminar

on 19th October, 2011 entitled "

Concerns on post-disastrous impacts

on the health of flood affectees" in

collaboration with MAP.

This seminar highlighted important

aspects of this calamity and dis-

cussed the infectious diseases, psy-

chiatric conditions and nutritional

problems among the victims of flood.

The required strategies that could be

helpful to combat such situations

were also discussed. Facilitators in-

cluded Mr. Sikander Sherwani, Dept.

of Microbiology, Federal Urdu Univer-

sity of Arts Science and Technology,

Dr. Iqbal Afridi, Dept. of Psychiatry,

Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre,

and Dr. Sukaina Shabbir, Dietitian,

Kidney Centre, Karachi. The funds

raised by this seminar were donated

to relief campaigns.

This seminar provided a forum for

the students where they can come up

with their ideas regarding the field of

microbiology, hoping to get the right

advice and consultancy.

President Akhtar

Amin setting new goals to achieve

Joining hands with MAP

— Akhtar Amin, President PMSRS.

Dr. Saba Sohail providing guidelines

on manuscript writing.

PAGE 6 PMSRS NEWSLETTER

“Readers are the leaders”- with

this vision; Students’ Journal Club

was initiated for the first time ever

at Dow Medical College under the

umbrella of parent body Pakistan

Medical Students’ Research Society.

The main aim of this initiative was to

flourish the culture of scientific pa-

per reading habits among medical

students.

The first session series of Students’

Journal Club held during October-

November 2011 on the theme of

“Infectious Diseases” served as a

platform for medical students to

update their knowledge in an inter-

active way. The participants also

learned about “critique on scientific

papers”, “letter to the editor” and

useful research tools like STROBE

(STrengthening the Reporting of

Observational studies in Epidemiol-

ogy) . The highlight of the whole

series was the session “How to pre-

sent your research in an interna-

tional conference” conducted by

students of Dow Medical College,

who represented the university in

reputed international conferences.

The immense appreciation by the

students motivated the

team to hold yet another

session series on the

theme of “Endocrinology”

in February-March 2012.

This session series will

provide students a com-

plete “package”. It will

enable them to conduct

researches more appro-

priately; increasing the chances of

acceptance of their research work in

reputed journals.

Students’ Journal Club would not

have been there where it is today

due to the immense efforts of the

team, encouragement from the par-

ticipants and cooperation from the

parent body Pakistan Medical Stu-

dents’ Research Society.

Readers are Leaders—Students’ Journal Club

An interactive session of Students’ Journal Club

PMSRS in Ziauddin University

The first open workshop of the

Pakistan Medical Student Research

Society(PMSRS) was held at the Abul

Hassan Jaffrey Auditorium in the

Ziauddin University om the 17th of

January 2012. This was held in

collaboration with the KARA Health

Foundation as part of their Contin-

ued Medical Experience. The audi-

ence besides medical students-

included some esteemed professors

and doctor such as Mr N A Jaffrey ,

Dr Masood Rao Dr Bushra Ansari and

the chief guest Dr Kamran Hameed ,

Dean of the Ziauddin Medical Uni-

versity. The conference was hosted

by Fahd Hamid and the chief speaker

was the highly experienced Dr

Masood Rao. This conference

proved to be a novel experience for

many of those attending as the Dr

Masood covered a wide range of

aspects of medical research includ-

ing proposal for research writing

essentials of a research, prioritizing

problems in a research amongst

others. This conference also

served as an ideal opportunity to

unveil PMSRS to the student body,

many of those who had been looking

for such a platform to launch their

own researches or to connect with

doctors who were already doing so.

Dr N A Jaffrey and Dr. Masood

Rao at PMSRS workshop in ZU.

Dr. Kamran Hameed at the first

PMSRS workshop in ZU.

PAGE 7 PMSRS NEWSLETTER

Press Release: January, 18th

, 2012,

on the completion of 1 year by

PMSRS. A Whitepaper detailing the

summary of activities.

Pakistan Medical Students’ Re-

search Society completed a year

today on 18th

January 2012. We are

thankful to everyone who played

any role in its successful journey.

PMSRS is proud to announce that

we have 507 members till date, from

14 different institutions in Pakistan.

We have a team of 7 executive

board members, further a team of

18 dedicated students who are

working on different programs. We

have 32 Regional coordinators in 14

different institutions across the

country.

We have organized a total of 11

events in 1 year at 5 different insti-

tutions, with a total 559 participants

attending and benefiting from those

workshops.

We have successfully managed to

conduct a Students’ Journal Club

based on 4 sessions at Dow Medical

College, Karachi, Pakistan during Oct

-Nov 2011, with 30 participants.

Our annual newsletter is almost on

completion and will be published in

the coming weeks, detailing our pro-

gress and details of successful pro-

jects and events.

The Student Mentor Link has asso-

ciated about 40 member students as

Research Assistants in 15 different

projects. Besides, 22 members of

PMSRS volunteered and learnt more

about research under Dr. Zaman

Shaikh, Diabetologist and Endocri-

nologist, Director of NIDE, Dow Uni-

versity, Pakistan.

We have developed partnerships

with 11 organizations and 2 confer-

ences, both national and interna-

tional.

We understand the importance of

research and plan to take it forward

in Pakistan. We hope that if we con-

tinue working with the same dedica-

tion, PMSRS will develop itself as a

major contributor to the develop-

ment of medical research in Paki-

stan. PMSRS emerges as the only

medical student run research organi-

zation that has contributed a lot in

the field across Pakistan. However,

sky is the limit and we plan to ex-

pand our network and encourage

students to do research in the com-

ing years.

-PMSRS Executive Board.

PMSRS Summary of Events

For becoming a member of PMSRS, Fill in the membership registration form

available online at www.pmsrs.com.

Send in the filled form to pmsrs.pk@gmail.com.

Registration charges shall be paid to the selected Regional Coordinator from

the respective medical colleges. A list of Regional Coordinators is available at

the website.

In case your medical college does not have a regional coordinator, you can

apply for that post. We can have varying number of regional coordinators

from a medical college depending on the strength of students.

To become a part of any of our teams, send your CV/resume alongwith cov-

Become a member..

“It is heartening to

see that PMSRS is

playing a key role in

initiating research

activities among

medical students of

various medical insti-

tutions of repute in

the country. In such a short span of a year,

the achievements are remarkable. I wish

them more success in future”.

-Farhat Hussain Mirza, Associate Professor, Dept. of

Forensic Medicine, Dow Medical College, Karachi,

Pakistan.

Pakistan Medical Students’ Research Society

L O G O N T O P M S R S . C O M O R J O I N U S O N

F A C E B O O K . C O M / P M S R S & T W I T T E R . C O M / P M S R S

tional collaborations with IN-

FORMER, INDIA. This will not only be

helpful for the students of the two

nations, but also help bring the two

nations closer..

I personally, request all the stu-

dents to join hands with PMSRS and

help us bring a research revolution

in Pakistan. I also request colleges

and organizations both national and

international to collaborate with

PMSRS in order to achieve our goals.

In the end, I would like to thank all

those who believed in PMSRS and

helped us in having a successful

year.

“One Year ago, PMSRS seemed no

more than a dream; however, it’s a

reality today. The basic concept be-

hind Pakistan Medical Students’ Re-

search Society is to encourage stu-

dents to do researches from the

initial years of their medical school-

ing. We have achieved a lot in our

first year with 10+ workshops, hav-

ing 500+ attendance. However, sky

is the limit and we plan to work even

harder and do a lot more in the year

2012. PMSRS has made partners

with many national and interna-

tional organizations like Essa Labs,

PWA, SOCH, SIH, HIFA, Medicalope-

dia and many other renowned

names and now we have interna-

Message from Anis Rehman, Senior Vice President.

Words of Appreciation

Editorial Board:

Project Executive PMSRS Newsletter:

S. Ezz-e-Rukhshan Adil

Chief Editor: Muhammad Yasin Bandukda

Associate Editor: Komal Motwani

Editorial Assistants: Ammara Mushtaq, Nava Asad,

Komal Mallick, Anum Fatima

Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known...

Anis Rehman, Senior Vice Presi-

dent, PMSRS.