From a Mentoring and Networking Workshop in Sri Lanka

Greetings again. I hope you’re doing well.

About a week ago, I returned from a brief stay in Sri Lanka. I was there to facilitate an AuthorAID workshop. This two-day workshop was organized by the Research Promotion and Facilitation Centre (RPFC) at the University of Colombo Faculty of Medicine.

Last year, I gave a similar workshop specifically for faculty members from the University of Colombo Faculty of Medicine. The current workshop was for faculty members from various medical schools and health science centers throughout Sri Lanka.

A main purpose of the current workshop was to guide faculty members in mentoring students and others in research writing. The other main purpose was to facilitate networking among institutions with regard to promoting research writing.

Like the previous workshop, the current one was case-based. Discussion of cases alternated with segments of presentation. I also presented information on research-writing resources and on ways that institutions can promote research writing. The presentations and cases now appear in the AuthorAID Resource Library.

Also at the workshop, members of the RPFC spoke about its activities. In particular, they described its writing clubs, in which small groups meet with mentors. At the end of the workshop, attendees from the other institutions observed a writing-club meeting.

As a closing exercise, attendees met in small groups to start developing plans for promoting research writing at their institutions. I was impressed with the plans, which can help embed research-writing instruction throughout Sri Lanka. Embedding such instruction in various countries is a goal of AuthorAID.

My compliments to the RPFC for a very well planned workshop!

Until the next post—

Barbara