Moderator
Dr. Cornelius Gofung, Jos University Teaching Hospital.
Speakers
Prof. Alphonsus Isara, National president, APHPN.
Dr. Luret Lar, Chairman, APHPN, Plateau state branch
Dr. Olugbenga Oguntunde, Bingham University.
Dr. Tolulope Afolaranmi, Jos University Teaching Hospital/University of Jos.
Prof. Andrew Booth, School of Health and Related Research (ScHARR), University of Sheffield, UK
Dr. Mamza Jabani. Jos University Teaching Hospital.
Date and Time
Thursday 27 January, 2022 – 09:00am – 02:33pm
Friday 28 January, 2022 – 09:00am – 01:10pm
Introduction
The Association of Public Health Physicians (APHPN), Plateau state branch, organised a two-day continuing medical education (CME) online program with the theme, Medical Research: “Sharing the Experience”.
The Day 1 session kick-started the CME series. There was an opening remark by the APHPN national president Prof, Alphonsus Isara, as well as the chairman of APHPN, Plateau state branch Dr. Luret Lar. The first presentation delivered by Prof. Audu of Federeal University Otukpo on behalf of Prof. Ogutunde was focused on an overview of medical research where the major characteristics of research, various types of research, and the basic steps in carrying out medical research were described. The second presentation by Dr. Afolaranmi was a lecture on an overview of quantitative research method, questionnaire design and challenges. A practical session on Mendeley citation manager led by Dr. Mamza, was sandwiched between both sessions.
The Day 2 session began with a presentation on an overview of qualitative research by Dr. Lar which was followed by the second practical session on the Mendeley citation manager by Dr. Mamza. The last presentation for the program was a lecture on qualitative evidence synthesis by an international guest speaker, Prof. Booth.
1. Welcome Address
(a) Prof. Alphonsus Isara, National President, Association of Public Health Physicians of Nigeria (APHPN).
Prof. Isara welcomed everyone to the program, and thanked Plateau state branch for the initiative to host such a timely and innovative program. He expressed his desire for more collaborations and like programs among APHPN branches.
2. Presentation by speakers
(b) Dr. Olugbenga Oguntunde, Deprtment of Community Medicine and PHC, Bingham University
Dr. Oguntunde presented “A Brief Overview of Medical Research”. He emphasised that research was a scientific investigation of facts and relationship to establish dependable solutions to problems through systematic collection, analysis and interpretation of data. He also mentioned the importance of research as well as an extensive overview of the research framework.
(c) Dr. Tolulope Afolaranmi, Department of Community Medicine, Jos University Teaching Hospital/University of Jos
Dr. Afolaranmi presented, “Overview of Quantitative Research Methods”. He reiterated the importance of research as well as mentioning that research was not restricted by location or by process. He also went through the steps in conducting research. He concluded with the challenges of quantitative research chief among which was its inability to accurately measure some things.
(d) Dr. Luret Lar, Chairman, APHPN, Plateau state branch
Dr. Lar presented, “Overview of Qualitative Research” with a focus on interviewing. She stated that the purpose of qualitative studies was to obtain in-depth and contextual information about an individual’s experiences, beliefs, perceptions, motivations or values, and to explore reasons, opinions and attitudes behind respondents’ answers through asking probing questions to gain a deeper understanding/ more information and explanation. It was a highly interactive presentation with breakout sessions and shared experiences.
(e) Prof. Andrew Booth, School of Health and Related Research (ScHARR), University of Sheffield, UK
Prof. Booth presented, “Sharing the experience harvested from qualitative research: How can Nigeria and other health systems benefit from qualitative evidence synthesis (QES)?” He defined qualitative evidence synthesis, or QES, as a type of systematic review that brings together the findings from primary qualitative research in a systematic way. He also mentioned that the aim of a QES was to establish a greater understanding of issues, often of a subtle or sensitive nature, that primary qualitative research frequently addresses. He demystified Qualitative evidence synthesis (QES) as a broad term for the group of methods used to undertake systematic reviews of qualitative research evidence. Lastly, he stated Nigeria could benefit from QES by partnering with international methodologists to increase local capacity to conduct QES amongst other ways.
(f) Dr. Mamza Jabani. Jos University Teaching Hospital.
Dr. Mamza facilitated a practical session on Mendeley citation manager. It was a very practical and hands-on session as attendees were taken through the steps of installing and operating the Mendeley citation manager.
3. Conclusions
The APHPN Plateau state branch thanked all attendees for their participation. The two-day program had a total of 317 attendees with an average of 90 attendees per session. The state chairman particularly emphasised that this was the first in the planned CME series and encouraged attendees to make plans to attend future programs and CMEs from the state branch.
