The Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (PCHRD), in partnership with the Institute of Philippine Culture (IPC) of the Ateneo de Manila University, hosted a two-day kick-off meeting on “eHealth Technologies and Data Governance” on 27 to 28 February 2017 at San Alberto Hurtado Hall, Ateneo de Manila University, Quezon City and Capitol Resort Hotel, Lingayen, Pangasinan, respectively.
Supported by the ASEAN Network for Drugs, Diagnostics, and Vaccines Innovation (ASEAN-NDI), the meeting officially launched the October 2017 “Learning Interaction on eHealth Technologies in the ASEAN” conference, a part of the 2017 Philippine hosting of the ASEAN.
Dr. Jaime Montoya, PCHRD Executive Director, cited that the Philippines has long been challenged by constraints in accessibility and availability of healthcare services and information wherein about 90% of health professionals and 60% of tertiary hospitals where only found in urban areas.
“Due to these limitations, DOST recognizes that the solution lies in a strategy that incorporates SMARTER technologies. This is where eHealth comes into place. The eHealth program serves as one of the countries’ primary strategies to reform the current health care system,” Dr. Montoya emphasized.
Highlights of the program were two book launchings, the “Breaking Ground for HATID ASEAN: Proceedings of ASEAN-Level Technical Meetings on eHealth Technologies for Local Government Units” and the “eHealth LGU User Guide and Manual.” Presentations and discussions on the Indonesian, Thailand, and Philippine HATID ASEAN proposal were held.
The Province of Pangasinan, through Provincial Health Officers Anna Teresa De Guzman and Cielo Almoite, also shared their experiences on integrating eHealth technologies for data and health governance in their province.
ASEAN-NDI, hosted by PCHRD, is the first health research and development (R&D) innovation network under the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Writing for a scholarly journal publication is entirely different from thesis-writing. While the aim of your thesis is to present everything you know and discover on a particular topic, the goal of a journal article is to present research findings in a shorter and more focused format that scientists and researchers can read despite their hectic schedules. Moreover, journal editors sift through several submissions every publication cycle and would not bother reading an article that lacks clarity and brevity.
In the recently concluded 11th National Medical Writing Workshop and 4th Writeshop for Young Researchers held January 30-31 at the Isabela State University – Cauayan Campus, journal-writing experts from the Asia Pacific Association of Medical Journal Editors, together with proficient mentor-facilitators from different health fields, trained health investigators in developing/refining manuscripts that are worthy of a scholarly journal publication. Here are few practices researchers should avoid when writing a scientific journal article as pointed out in the writeshop*:
Mr. Diomerl Baldo, Bicol University, reviews the draft journal article of his groupmate during the small-group exercises at the
11th National Medical Writing Workshop and 4th Writeshop for Young Researchers held January 30-31 at the
Isabela State University – Cauayan Campus
Writing only in the active voice
More often, research writing guidelines encourage writing sentences in the active voice rather than in the passive voice. Recently, journal editors encourage writing in both the active and passive voices depending on what section you are working on. Writing in the passive voice would enable you to focus more on the results of your study. e.g. (active) The researcher classified vapor as gas. (passive) Vapor was classified as gas.
Presenting data in both narrative and illustration forms
Avoid redundant data presentation when writing for journals. This can be achieved by carefully choosing which presentation form would best express your data. If data cannot be explained in three to four paragraphs, it is best to use illustrations. Graphs effectively present trends and relationships among variables.
Using statistical terms that have common meanings
Using the statistical words such as random, correlate, significant, and normal in non-technical parts of your journal article may confuse readers into what the meaning of your statements. Save statistical words for your materials and methods prose. All statistical terms should be defined if used in the Results section.
Presenting all the results of your research
Only include results that are relevant to your stated problem whether or not they support the hypothesis. This technique would also make a journal article more focused and specific.
Including only the references that agree with your research
Journal manuscripts can be venues for discussion and scholarly disputes. Try to argue and provide enough data on why you don’t agree with previously published results and contribute another perspective to existing research.
Using one writing style for all your journal submissions
Journals do not follow a single format. While most of scholarly journals go by the IMRAD (Introduction-Methodology-Results-Discussion) format, it is best to check the corresponding guidelines/instruction to authors of your prospective journal to know about their style requirements.
Journal articles should be short, sharp, and swift, says Dr. Jose Florencio Lapeña, President of the Philippine Association of Medical Journal Editors during his talk. A clear and concise journal manuscript is your best bet to get published.
Dr. Jose Florencio Lapeña, Philippine Association of Medical Journal Editors President, lectures on how to prepare journal manuscripts for submission at the 11th National Medical Writing Workshop and 4th Writeshop for young Researchers
*taken from the presentations of the 11th National Medical Writing Workshop and 4th Writeshop for young Researchers' resource persons: Dr. Jose Florencio Lapeña, Dr. Wilfred CG Peh, and Dr. Cecilia C. Maramba-Lazarte
