"Addressing Barriers to Post-Graduate Research Training in Low Resource Settings: An Innovative Approach in an Institution of Higher Learning in Kenya"

Background: Numerous barriers hinder health research training in Post-Graduate Medical Education Programs, especially in developing countries. These barriers include lack of structured research curriculum, insufficient research faculty, underdeveloped research culture, conflicting priorities between clinical duties and research, limited guidance and mentorship, and scarce financial resources. Research training is pivotal for medical residency, providing essential knowledge and skills for dissertation completion, fostering evidence-based medical practice, and nurturing future independent clinical researchers. Thus, a holistic approach to research education is imperative to surmount these challenges. We describe here a dissertation-centric research curriculum, delivered longitudinally, an innovative strategy undertaken by Aga Khan University’s Medical College in East Africa (AKU-MCEA) in the delivery of postgraduate research. Methods: A review of AKU-MCEA post-graduate research methods curriculum was conducted based on implementing Departments’ experience, institutional policies, and residency program output. Program Implementation: The Master of Medicine is a four-year program for which a well-conceived, executed, and documented dissertation research is a requisite for attaining a postgraduate degree. Residents undergo comprehensive research training under a structured curriculum comprising four modules, aligned with predefined research milestones. Interactive didactic sessions supplemented by faculty-led workshops facilitate individual, small group, and plenary engagement, aiding mentored research application. Residents benefit from dedicated time throughout the program to develop, implement, and report on their dissertation work. Faculty members receive training in dissertation supervision from seasoned experts, ensuring residents are guided by faculty with expertise in producing publication-quality research. Outcomes: This approach has resulted in a 98% - 100% dissertation completion and graduation rates. Residents’ research topics are drawn from a range of themes. Research findings are disseminated departmentally, at university-wide Faculty Academic Rounds, peer reviewed journals, conferences and at the University’s Annual Early Career Researchers symposium. Lessons learnt: Implementing a system-wide strategy that involves a structured research curriculum delivered longitudinally alongside predetermined research milestones, facilitated by a multidisciplinary team comprising of dedicated supervisors, provision of financial and resource support, including protected research time, ongoing faculty development in dissertation supervision, and wide dissemination of institutional research policies, is poised to expedite dissertation completion, ensuring high quality research whilst enhancing the dissemination of research outputs.