RESEARCH AGENDA

Abstract

Pakistan's contribution to world's research publications is less than 0.04% inclusive of 1,2 inconsequential amount of publications in the field of health sciences. Astudy indicates a gradual increase in the number of publications in successive years from 2007 to 2010 reflecting research pattern in institutions of medical education in Pakistan, considering 3,4 publications from JCR indexed by Thomson-Reuters as documented by HEC. There are 5 no South Asian institutions in the list of the top 100 universities in the world. South Asian health researchers accounted for only 1.2% of all papers within the Institute for Scientific 6 Information database from 1992-2001. It is recommended that every unit and institution should be encouraged to develop a research agenda and all post graduate trainees be encouraged to follow the same. All supervisors should be retrained in research methodology and project/research management. A constructive approach may be adopted whereas different research projects strengthen each other and some substantial results may be construed from it. It may be in the fields of preventive –primary, secondary or primordial, interventional, electrophysiology, paediatric, cardiac imaging – echocardiography, nuclear, CT angiography and MR and adult and paediatric cardiac surgery. Large institutions should invest in well-conceived agenda with SMART objectives running parallel in different departments.