Highlighting the Need for MD-PhD Programs in Developing Countries.

Abstract

In certain developing countries, research output in the medical field has been rising rapidly in the last few decades due to an increased focus on medical research development through different avenues.1 These indicated an increase in the expenses on research projects, the launch of more research centers, and others.1,2 However, this is not the case for most developing countries. Compared with developing countries, developed countries have contributed a lot more to scientific publications in health research.3,4 Furthermore, the health research productivity of postgraduate students in lowand middle-income countries was found to be low.5 In detail, the majority of students infrequently publish their theses. In addition, most published studies are crosssectional in design, with hardly any clinical trials.5 The reasons behind that vary, but many of them are common, including limited funding and resources, weak linkage between universities and stakeholders, limited facilities for research training and education, and limited access to health information and literature sources.3,6 Such problems have affected medical education in developing countries negatively. For example, in one of the low-income countries, Mozambique, for the period between 2004 and 2010, only 11% of Mozambican University faculty members had a PhD degree, and the shortage of human resources for teaching and mentoring in that country is still an ongoing problem.7 It has also become clear that developing nations’ clinical research needs to be improved if important issues are to be resolved and effective pandemic management tactics are to be selected. As an illustration, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, which started in the Chinese city of Wuhan in 2019 and is brought on by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 virus that mostly affects the respiratory tract,8 has had a major impact on public health in India. Following the second wave of COVID-19 in India, it has been argued that conducting research is essential for lowand middle-income countries so that resources can be allocated properly where they are needed and health systems can develop a greater understanding of what causes good and bad outcomes.9 In light of these facts, we highlight an important, underestimated, and poorly applied approach for the improvement in medical research and education in developing countries, that is, the implementation of Doctor of Medicine-Doctor of Philosophy (MD-PhD) programs.