Write-up and dissemination of undergraduate and postgraduate research at the University of Rwanda: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Introduction Research is essential in all areas of health development. However, medical students and residents frequently lack the time and training on performing research. This is especially prevalent in resource-limited settings. We aimed to compare the word counts of undergraduate and postgraduate dissertations with published projects in Rwanda, and to identify the proportion of postgraduate pediatric research projects that have been published since 2012. Methods Retrospective, cross-sectional study of undergraduate and postgraduate research dissertations at the University of Rwanda. Dissertations were then compared to randomly selected published papers of Rwandan research. Each IMRaD (Introduction, Methodology, Results and Discussion) section word count was compared using Student's t-test. Results 19/190 (10%) undergraduate dissertations and 22/41 (54%) postgraduate dissertations, were available in electronic format for word-count analysis. The mean total word count for postgraduate dissertations (5163 words) was significantly longer (p<0.001) than the randomly selected peer-reviewed journal articles (2959 words). Each section of the IMRaD structure of postgraduate dissertations was significantly longer than those of the control group. Undergraduates used a similar number of words to published papers, but used significantly more tables and figures. Of the 41 postgraduate dissertations, only four (10%), were published in peer-reviewed journals. Conclusion This is the first study to assess the writing style of Rwandan medical students and pediatric postgraduate residents. A simple step to increase dissemination of research findings would be for institutions to modify academic regulations so that students write-up in manuscript form rather than dissertation format.

Exploring factors associated with research involvement of undergraduate students at the College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Rwanda

“…Students may be unable to do research projects on their own but if they are in a supportive learning environment where research opportunities are available, the threshold to engage in research could be lowered [ 14 ]. To capitalize on students’ interest in research, it is also important to ensure that students have access to research opportunities at all parts of the process, where our findings, as well as previous studies in LMICs, indicate that opportunities are often limited to data collection, and only a minor proportion get the chance to be a part of a peer-reviewed publication [ 19 , 28 ]. Currently, University of Rwanda has a research directorate that facilitates research, yet undergraduate involvement is still limited [ 17 ].…”

“…Undergraduate students at the UR College of Medicine and Health Sciences (CMHS) have a research introductory course that covers writing a research proposal, study design, data collection, and data analysis. After completing this module students seldom get opportunities to practice what they have learned, except for at the end of their undergraduate studies when they have to write a thesis as partial fulfillment of their academic requirement [18].…”

Knowledge Attitudes and Barriers of Undergraduate Medical Students towards Research in University of Babylon

“…Medical students usually are very busy during their study to engage in conducting medical scientific research. This is more common in source limited developing countries 5 . It is well known that of undergraduate medical students involvement in research performance will help them to be a good researcher after completing their training 6 .…”

Determining Critical Topics for Undergraduate Surgical Education in Rwanda: Results of a Modified Delphi Process and a Consensus Conference

“…The University of Rwanda is the key player in the training of medical practitioners and specialists required to meet the country’s surgical needs. It is the largest public training and research institution in Rwanda [ 17 ]. Both institutions collaborated to define and prioritize topics for undergraduate surgical training for their context.…”