The Pan African Thoracic Society – Methods in Epidemiologic, Clinical and Operations Research (PATS-MECOR) course. .
PATS-MECOR comprises face to face 1 week courses to provide intensive short training to strengthen skills and build capacity for clinical and epidemiological research in lung health in Africa. The course has different levels through which students may progress starting at level 1 and ending at level 3.
Pan African Thoracic Society Methods in Epidemiologic, Clinical and Operations Research PATS-MECOR 2024 Kenya
PATS MECOR comprises face to face 1 week courses to provide intensive short training to participants in order to strengthen skills and build capacity for clinical and epidemiological research in lung health in Africa. The course has different levels through which students may progress starting at Level 1 and ending at Level 3.
All health professionals who are PATS paid up members with an interest in Respiratory Medicine, and who wish to improve their clinical research and investigation. A medical degree or advanced degree in related areas, such as Public Health is a requirement for all levels.
Once applications are open, download the guidance note from the website for the level you wish to apply for. Use the link to access the online application form, create a user account, complete the form and attach supporting documents. Submit online by the stated deadline.
If you can’t see the PATS MECOR form in the portal after logging in, click the application link again. This should take you directly to the form to complete. If you have any other issues with the portal, contact joliveira@thoracic.org
coming soon
Once the completed application form and supporting documents are received, it is reviewed by the selection panel. Outcome notifications will be sent via e-mail.
Places on the course will be awarded on a competitive basis, so thoughtfulness, level of detail, and completeness of responses play a critical role in the outcome of each application.
Participants who are not able to pay the full cost of the course can apply for a subsidised place. If successful in obtaining a subsided place, the participant will be required to pay $200 towards their costs and will be covered for remaining costs (tuition, accommodation at the course venue, and airport transfers in host country to/from the course venue). Please note the cost of any additional training is not covered by a subsidised place and will be charged separately.
Anyone who will not be able to pay the full cost of the course may apply for a subsidised place.
The Pan African Thoracic Society is a major professional organization representing Lung Health in Africa.
The course was initiated by Professor Stephen Gordon of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) and is based on the successful American Thoracic Society (ATS) MECOR programme. The specific needs identified for the course in Africa were:
The course is designed for pulmonary clinicians, investigators, and academicians to provide training in research methods. Three workshops run concurrently for a period of one week each year.
during level 1 training workshops students learn how to develop a study plan, choose the study subjects, plan measurements and prepare and estimate sample size and protocol development. No prior research experience is required for level 1.
Students learn about study designs, such as, Experimental, Observational cross-section, Observational case-control and how to research data. Students must have attended level 1 to progress to level 2.
Students bring details of a draft paper and research question that they would like to work on at Level 3. The training workshops address ethical issues, designing questionnaires, interviews and on-line surveys, as well as, data management, quality control and writing a proposal for funding research. To be accepted on to level 3 students must be able to demonstrate how Level 1 & 2 PATS MECOR courses have advanced their research career.
The first workshop was held in Blantyre, Malawi in 2007 and continued to be delivered there until 2009. From 2010 to 2015 the course was held at Brackenhurst International Conference Centre, Limuru, Kenya where the programme received invaluable support from the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI). In 2016 the course returned to Malawi and was held at the College of Medicine (CoM), Blantyre supported by staff at the Malawi Liverpool Wellcome Trust (MLW). In 2018, the course was held in Durban, South Africa with Dr Kevin Mortimer as the new course director. In 2019, the course was held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
We are pleased to announce that funding was secured from NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Lung Health and Tuberculosis in Africa at LSTM, the MRC GCRF Lung Health in Africa across the life course grant and the Aldama Foundation which has allowed us to run PATS MECOR for the past few years. PATS MECOR is led by PATS through the PATS EXCO.
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