Context:Every medical practitioner should strive to contribute to the generation of evidence by conducting research. For carrying out research, adequate knowledge, practical skills, and development of the right attitude are crucial. A literature review shows that data regarding knowledge, attitude, and practices toward medical research, among resident doctors in India, is lacking.Aims:This study was conducted to assess research-related knowledge, attitude, and practices among resident doctors.Settings and Design:A cross-sectional survey was conducted using a pretested, structured, and pre-validated questionnaire.Materials and Methods:With approval of the Institutional Ethics Committee and a verbal consent, a cross-sectional survey among 100 resident doctors pursuing their second and third years in the MD and MS courses was conducted using a structured and pre-validated questionnaire.Statistical Analysis:Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the results.Results:The concept of research hypothesis was known to 58% of the residents. Ninety-eight percent of the residents were aware of the procedure to obtain informed consent. Seventy-six percent agreed that research training should be mandatory. Although 88% of the residents were interested in conducting research in future, 50% had participated in research other than a dissertation project, 28% had made scientific presentations, and only 4% had publications. Lack of time (74%), lack of research curriculum (42%), and inadequate facilities (38%) were stated as major obstacles for pursuing research.Conclusions:Although resident doctors demonstrated a fairly good knowledge and positive attitude toward research, it did not translate into practice for most of them. There is a need to improve the existing medical education system to foster research culture among resident doctors

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.The copyright line for this article was changed on 24 February 2015 after original online publication Abstract Background: Hospital malnutrition is a significant problem that still remains under-recognised and under-treated in India. The present study assessed the effects of oral nutritional supplementation (ONS) in conjunction with dietary counselling versus dietary counselling (control) alone in malnourished patients when given in hospital and post-hospital discharge. Methods: The present study was conducted in nine private and four public hospitals. Patients from various medical wards were screened for malnutrition using modified Subjective Global Assessment (mSGA) and randomised to control (n = 106) or ONS (n = 106) for 12 weeks. Two servings (460 mL) of ONS were prescribed daily, providing 432 kcal, 16 g of protein and 28 micronutrients. The primary outcome was weight gain over 12 weeks. Other outcomes included change in body mass index (BMI), serum pre-albumin, albumin and C-reactive protein levels, energy and nutrient intakes, and handgrip strength at weeks 4, 8 and 12, as well as mSGA score at week 12.Results: The mean age of patients was 39 years. Fifty-five percent were males and 90.3% were moderately malnourished (mSGA score B) at baseline. At week 12, ONS significantly improved certain parameters compared to control: weight (2.0 versus 0.9 kg; P < 0.001), BMI (0.76 versus 0.37 kg m -2 ; P < 0.001) and energy intake per day (560 versus 230 kcal;

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Following watershed amendments in Schedule Y India's star rose rather rapidly on the clinical research (especially clinical trials) horizon. Just as dramatic was the fall of this empire. At the centre of these events has been the participant and indirectly, the Ethics Committee (EC) that is established primarily to protect this individual. This paper traces the evolution of the concept of ECs in India, examines the current state of these committees in the country and suggests the way forward.The Past:The requirement for an EC to oversee clinical research was first made in the ICMR Policy Statement for Ethics published in 1980 and then again in the Schedule Y (1988). Later, both the Amended Schedule Y (2005) assigned regulatory responsibility on the EC and the ICMR Guidelines (2006) described the functioning of ECs. Several challenges including inadequate formal training, contribution from non-technical members, administrative support as well no SOPs and a heavy workload were identified. In the absence of regulatory oversight of ECs, the introduction of the Clinical Trial Registry - India (CTRI) and self-regulation through voluntary accreditation programs brought a measure of accountability and transparency.The Present:A slew of regulatory reforms led to more than 1000 ECs to be registered with CDSCO although the actual impact on participants' protection and safety of these new regulations still remains to be seen.Way Forward:A method to oversee all ECs, improved functioning of ECs including on site monitoring, central ECs for multicentric studies, the development of metrics to assess the ability of ECs to protect the participant are other ideas for the future.Conclusions:Although ECs in India have evolved from being mere rubber stamps for approval of protocols to efficiently functioning accredited ECs, yet there is much to be done for and by Ethics Committees.

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