Research is an integral part of securing a position in surgery and a lot of successful surgeons are likely to be proficient researchers as well. As a group trying to promote the interest and passion for surgery, we found it vital to have a department dedicated to further this interest. As students, often it is hard for us to approach the faculty to ask for available opportunities owing to their busy schedules. For a lot of basic sciences students, it is even harder since they have limited interaction with the faculty. On the other hand, it is also difficult for professors to find genuinely interested students who are willing to work on a project when it is available.
This is where SIG steps in and creates a bridge between the faculty and the students. We have done this by creating a database for students where we have recorded every interested student’s preferred fields and the faculty can just connect with us through a single email and we link the two parties up.
We also understand that while many students are interested, they may not have the skills required for the project available thus they are hesitant to apply. To overcome this issue, we have designed a mentor-mentee program in collaboration with SPIE. SPIE provides us with student mentors while we provide the mentees and the projects. Multiple projects have already started on this footing. We have many more exciting plans, look out for this space for upcoming announcements!
Objectives:
At the department of research, SIG we hope to accomplish the following objectives:
- serve as a bridge between faculty and students for research opportunities
- maintain a database for ongoing researches in DOS
- build and maintain a database for research electives
- find and advertise postdoctorate opportunities for SIG members and AKU graduates in general
How to apply for SIG Research Projects?
You can apply for the SIG research projects at the beginning of each academic year by filling in our google form where you let us know of your interests and skills and we match you with the most appropriate project available in the Department of Surgery.
Each-one-Teach-one Initiative:
This is an upcoming project where we plan on requesting research assistants and researchers at AKU tomentor one student each and teach specialized research skills. Through this, we hope to advance theresearch careers of those who are already doing intermediate level research in their student life.
SIG Research Partnerships:
SIG x SPIE
SIG collaborated with SPIE earlier this academic year where we agreed to provide research opportunities in exchange for student research mentors being trained at SPIE for the new and upcoming researchers who need help with projects. A mentor from SPIE is responsible for 2-3 mentees from SIG and each mentor gets a research opportunity as well.
SIG x CGCS
SIG has recently started collaborations with the Center for Global Surgical Care (CGCS) who have agreed to provide us a wide array of research opportunities to keep students engaged. The research work involves multiple big and small projects and this initiative will also give students a unique opportunity todo some fieldwork. Throughout these projects, students will also receive mentorship from the excellent faculty leading this initiative.
Existing SIG Research Database
Earlier this academic year, students were asked to sign up for research opportunities through the Google Form attached to the “How to Apply for SIG Research Projects” section. We received an overwhelming response (51.6%) from the class of 2023 (current 2nd years) followed by the batch 2022 and then 2021s Students were asked to pick their top 3 preferences for the field of surgery they wanted to work in and the majority of them showed a keen interest in general surgery, followed by CTS and pediatric surgery. Most students indicated that they were comfortable with using SPSS and Endnote and doing data collection, reviewing the literature, and writing manuscripts. Only 1% of the students who applied were proficient with more specialized software such as Python or R-Studio. Of these students35% showed an interest in learning manuscript writing followed by SPSS, R-Studio, and Python.We hope to enable each student to achieve their goals in the field of research by providing the required mentorship and research opportunities through our individual understanding with each faculty member from the Department of Surgery and our various collaborations with different organizations working towards the same goal at AKU.