Dr. SOEURN Visal
Research is very important for health professions as it trains the brain in critical thinking and communication skills to help decide the best treatment for patients. But how can we be sure that our students are getting the best research and research supervision?
At UP all research supervisors do annual professional development/updates on research supervision which is run by the Research Department. A Research Supervisor Workshop was held last weekend at UP with the Faculties of Nursing /Midwifery and Medicine; Department of ICT; Angkor Children’s Hospital and Khmer Soviet Hospital.
At the workshop it was discussed that one of the most important things a research supervisor can do is to encourage students to be curious for them to ask questions (lots!) help them find answers to the questions (through literature reviews, collecting data and analyzing data) and help them to evaluate the ‘so what’ of their findings (how do the findings change what we think and do, change guidelines, influence policy and lead to better health outcomes?). For students a good supervisor is someone who is available and meets with them regularly (and gives regular constructive feedback) and coaches them to the finish line; who respects them and expects the best from them; and who is not afraid to also be a learner.
The next Research Supervision workshop (for existing supervisors and for those who would like to become supervisors) will be run in early June 2020.
