Introduction:
The Global Health Network Asia is committed to building a diverse pool of future leaders in global health who will play a leadership role to mitigate the burden of public health issues. In line with this objective, the internship program at icddr,b offers a wide range of opportunities for students and recent graduates to gain insight into research methodological and implementation skill and enrich their knowledge to gather experience in various areas of health research. To facilitate critical thinking of the interns, TGHN Asia organized two supported learning sessions in the icddr,b facilities using a computer room. These sessions were attended by six interns and coordinators of TGHN Asia. The objective of conducting these supported learning sessions were to introduce key concepts to the interns who are keen on undertaking research projects in their early careers. The facilitators used e-learning courses from The Global Health Network Training Centre. They are free, open access, fully online modular courses authored and reviewed by subject matter experts.
Session 1: The Research Question
The first learning session was held on November 15 facilitated by research investigators at icddr,b, Dr. Noshin Farzana and Mr. Saimul Islam. The session’s focus was to explore the main factors which affect and influence the development of a valid research question. Upon completion of this course, the participants developed an understanding of:
1. What a Research Question is
2. The issues that influence the development of the question
3. What a literature review is and why you might undertake one
Feedback from the participants:
All of the interns were really appreciative of the session on research questions. They gained information about collaboration and consultation, as well as the considerations that should go into selecting a research subject and the knowledge that it should produce. They also appreciated the TGHN e-learning toolkit that enlightened them with the additional information they needed on the subject.
“As we all know the research question forms the foundation of any study and is vital to the effectiveness and validity of the research to be carried out. This e-learning course aimed to increase the knowledge of researchers on the main factors which affect and influence the development of a valid research question. In this highly informative course, we have learned -what the research question is, the issues that influence the development of the research question, what a literature review is, etc. It will be more helpful for us if some more courses on research questions will be added to the e-course on TGHN so that we can have more knowledge on various types of research questions" (Dr. Samantha Neaz, MBBS, MPH.TGHN Asia intern)
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Session 2: Research Ethics:
The second learning session was moderated by Dr. Mir Nabila Ashraf that was held on November 22, 2022. This session focused on the basic research ethics skill and details on the ethical procedure of icddr,b as a format on international research organization. Upon completion of this course, the participants developed an understanding of:
1. The function of Research review committee (RRC)
2. The function of Ethical Review Committee (ERC)
3. Discussion about consent and ascent.
4. The importance of consent in implementing research.
Feedback from the participants:
All the participants appreciated the interactive session and shared how this has helped them to understand the basic on research ethics. They requested to be provided with 3-5 days training that would help them to gather more knowledge and necessary skills.
““The e-learning courses on The Global Health Network are fantastic resources for those who want to furnish their carrier on Public Health. It opened a golden door for the students to enrich their existing knowledge. I participated in both of the learning sessions. The session on Research Ethics was very much helpful for me. Though research ethics is very important for both researcher and respondent, it constitutes some important aspects and points to consider, which must be accounted for before starting data collection and during protocol design. Here I came to know about ERC, RRC, consent, ascent, confidentiality, importance of this etc. Research Ethics plays a role like armor for the researchers. Research Ethics is a vast content. It’s so difficult to cover up all the segments within a fixed period. Its highly recommended that, if there is continuation of the session for more days it will much helpful to explore the boundaries of research.” (Dr. Asma Ul Husna, MBBS, MPH, TGHN Asia intern)
Additional Resources Used:
1. Adapting Ethics Review During the COVID-19 Pandemic
2. The impact of COVID-19 on mental health research practice: ethical issues
Challenges identified during the session
Time management has been one of the major challenges during the session. Setting up the session time and organizing the session plan that was convenient for all the participants was somewhat a hurdle. However, despite the challenges, all the anticipated participants joined the session and showed their further interest to be connected in the upcoming events of The Global Health Network Asia.
Next steps
The team are planning to promote the internship program under icddr,b and activities of The Global Health Network Asia to share existing facilities and knowledge to help developing the skills of young researchers. The team also aims to take the learnings from conducting the sessions to more participants, both within and outside of icddr,b, who will benefit from the implementation of the supported learning sessions and improve their capacity to conduct research in their health settings. For applying to the internship program please click here. For any further queries or information please email asia@tghn2.org.