Thesis writing, for a postgraduate resident is a compulsory element in the program. It is also a very interesting part of the course, but for most of us we learn that it can be interesting, rather late. When it is almost the time for submission. Many of us feel that we could have learned more, if it had all been more structured.
One of the very interesting learning for the thesis activity is “Literature searching and Referencing”. I feel that if only we could have invested time for this, around the second, third and fourth post, then our thesis writing can become much better. Residency programs are of three years duration and each set of six months is called “a post”. We have six posts in all.
Luckily for me, I was introduced to QMed and Vasumathi ma’am a little early – in my second year. They helped me in discovering this interesting side of thesis writing. Finding the right literature, from the right sources turned out to be so very important. In the Indian programs, we are hardly exposed to learning this in our curriculum. And many residents find literature through trial and error searching. I learned about QMed and Mrs Vasumathi from a faculty member and chose to learn the right skills from them. They not only taught me how to search and how to use a reference manager to store my results and then cite them in my thesis, but also supported me with my doubts and queries as I worked on my thesis.
Looking back I feel that it would have been wonderful if my co-residents and I had learned all this during our undergraduate (medical school) days, or at least during internship. If we had, we would have been aware of how deep and intricate the entire process of thesis writing is. We would have put in more steady, sustained efforts. It would have been even greater learning. The need to do a thesis, I believe, is a huge opportunity to get introduced to doing research correctly. In spite of having crazy clinical schedules I believe I grabbed the opportunity to learn. And am thankful for how much I learned.
QMed guides students and researchers at all levels and I wish more people could get the benefits of learning from them. Vasumathi ma’am has been a tremendous and dependable support in teaching me how to find the right literature.
I’m deeply obliged to QMed for guiding me in this aspect of research methodology.
