Medicine Student Presents Scholarly Work for National Primary Care Research Group

College of Medicine student Raman Bhambra had a memorable end to 2022 by presenting at the North American Primary Care Research Group (NAPCRG ) in Phoenix, Arizona, in November.

Bhambra’s scholarly work, titled “Organizing a Virtual Research Conference in the Era of COVID-19 and Implications for Conferences Moving Forward,” was co-written by Manasa Melachuri, M.D. (’22), Julie Aultman, Ph.D., Stacey Gardner-Buckshaw, Ph.D., Alexander V. Galazyuk, Ph.D., Steven Schmidt, Ph.D, and fourth-year medicine students Gordon Hong, Jay Natarajan, Giovanna Leone and Andrew Alejo.

Bhambra discussed her experience at the NAPCRG – a multidisciplinary organization for primary care researchers. 

How was your research topic developed?

As former president of the Committee of Student Clinical Research, I was on a project on “Organizing a Virtual Research Conference in the Era of COVID-19 and Implications for Conferences Moving Forward.” The importance of research and presenting persisted when conferences were getting canceled due to the pandemic.

What are the next steps for your research?

With this project, we aim to discuss how we implemented a virtual platform for a research conference and outline the benefits and limitations at our institution. Virtual conferences definitely have their pros such as promoting efficiency and lowering cost; however, we want to continue collecting data comparing virtual and in person conferences held at NEOMED. 

What was your experience like at the NAPCRG?

Amazing! It was not only informative, but I also got the chance to listen to a few keynote speakers, and interact with different students, physicians and researchers. 

Was this your first trip to Phoenix? What did you enjoy about spending time there?

It was not! I have visited Phoenix before, and truly love the city, especially the weather.

How would you encourage other students to present their scholarly work at professional conferences?

I would really encourage students to present at national conferences as it is not only a great way to present their research, but also a way to make connections. At this past conference, I was able to engage in some great conversations with professionals from different institutions that provided me great ideas for further work.