Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Oct 4;24(1):1091.
doi: 10.1186/s12909-024-06068-9.

A qualitative study exploring graduated medical residents' research experiences, barriers to publication and strategies to improve publication rates from medical residents

Dorothy Kamya  1 , Brigette Macharia  2 , Wangari Waweru Siika  2 , Caroline K Mbuba  2
Affiliations

A qualitative study exploring graduated medical residents' research experiences, barriers to publication and strategies to improve publication rates from medical residents

Dorothy Kamya et al. BMC Med Educ. .

Abstract

Background: In Kenya, postgraduate medical residents must complete a research dissertation for their Master of Medicine studies. However, the subsequent publication rate is lower than in higher-income settings, limiting the availability of population-specific data. This study explored residents' experiences with research, reasons for the low publication rate, and strategies to improve publication rates.

Methods: In-depth interviews were conducted with 9 faculty members and non-academic support staff, as well as 18 Master of Medicine graduates who had successfully completed their research projects, to investigate their experiences with conducting, supervising, and publishing research. The interview data was analysed using inductive thematic analysis. The study also explored strategies to improve publication rates.

Results: The graduates (former medical residents) described difficult research journeys - from concept development to final submission of dissertation - which discouraged them from seeking publication. Many faculty and staff lacked time or sufficient expertise to successfully guide residents to publication. Departmental research culture, faculty expertise as supervisors and prioritisation of clinical work over research and lack of dedicated research time impacted both residents' and faculty capacity for research. Strategies to improve publication rates focused on developing faculty research expertise, more protected research time, and a more structured approach to teaching research methodology, including academic writing skills.

Conclusions: Residents in low- and middle-income countries such as Kenya encounter systemic and personal challenges to successful publication of research. The ease or difficulty of a resident's research journey influences their attitudes to subsequent publication. Strategies to improve publication rates can improve the dissemination of relevant research data in such settings.

Keywords: Kenya; LMIC Research; Low- and middle-income countries; Medical education; Postgraduate; Qualitative research; Research publication; Resident research.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Summary of recommendations
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Gottlieb M, Dehon E, Jordan J, Bentley S, Ranney ML, Lee S, et al. Getting published in medical education: overcoming barriers to scholarly production. Western J Emerg Med. 2018;19(1):1. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Tadavi F, Pawar S, Eldhose M, Aithal YR. Are all medical postgraduate dissertations getting published? A cross-sectional study. Natl J Physiol Pharm Pharmacol. 2023;13(11):2293–8.
    1. Churchyard J. A waste of science? The case for depositing undergraduate psychology dissertation research in institutional repositories. Psychology Teaching Review. 2020;26(1).
    1. Konstam MA, Hill JA, Kovacs RJ, Harrington RA, Arrighi JA, Khera A, et al. The academic medical system: reinvention to survive the revolution in health care. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2017;69(10):1305–12. - PubMed
    1. Björklund M, Massoumi R, Ohlsson B. From master’s thesis to research publication: a mixed-methods study of medical student publishing and experiences with the publishing process. BMC Med Educ. 2024;24(1):75. - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources