Abstract :
Introduction: Graduate (PhD) students in medical sciences, who will form
future faculties and investigators in Iran’s Universities of Medical Sciences,
are not trained on scientific writing during their training. The present study
describes the design, implementation, and evaluation of Principles of Writing
Biomedical Research Paper course.
Methods: The course, prepared based on an extensive search of the literature
and books on writing biomedical research papers, was offered as an elective
course to PhD students at Shiraz University of Medical Sciences in the second
semester of 2011-2012 academic year. The structure and function of various
sections of a paper and publication ethics were discussed in lecture and
practical sessions over a period of 12 weeks. The course was then evaluated
using a self-designed questionnaire.
Results: The majority of students gave the highest score (20) to the content and
implementation of all sessions of the course. Moreover, most of them believed
that the allotted time to the course was not enough, and suggested that it should
be increased to 32 hours (equal to two credits). Also, almost all the participants
believed that overall the materials lectured were comprehensive, the practical
sessions were important in learning the lectured materials, and the course was
useful in advancing their abilities and skills to write papers.
Conclusion: The evaluation of the present course showed that it was able to
increase the participants’ knowledge of the structure of scientific papers, and
enhanced their abilities and skills to write papers. The evaluation was used as a
basis to modify the course.
