Fellowship report: from Lebanon to Dublin

I was granted a fellowship under the RESCAP-MED scheme at Trinity College Dublin (TCD), Ireland, spanning from September 18-October 2, 2013. The main purpose of this fellowship was to obtain training on paper writing. The culmination of this fellowship was a paper entitled “Prevalence, correlates and management of type 2 diabetes mellitus in Lebanon: findings from a national population-based study”. The manuscript has now been accepted for publication and is currently in press in Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice.

I found this short fellowship to be of immense benefit to my skill set and career as well as it being an integral learning opportunity. These few weeks were truly productive; I quickly learned the components of a good paper and practiced the process of dissecting and writing the different sections of a paper and then assembling them to result in a coherent and clear article. Furthermore, “soft skills” such as critical evaluation of written work and the ability to clearly discuss and disseminate findings were also enhanced.

I was fortunate to have Dr. Kathleen Bennett as a mentor, who was most efficient in helping me utilize the short duration of this fellowship to obtain a good draft of the paper, ready for submission. She was also generous in sharing her expertise in writing and presenting scientific data, conducting statistical analysis, and submission to journals with me. I am immensely grateful for all her efforts and support in making my stay at Trinity a fruitful yet pleasant one. Overall, my experience of working at an institution in a different country proved to be not only enjoyable but one that broadened my perspective in conducting and disseminating  epidemiological research . I consider this experience to be a valuable asset to junior researchers like myself. I would definitely recommend this fellowship program to any researcher who would like to gain or expand their research knowledge and capacities.

The visiting fellowship programme exists to enable new skills and knowledge to be acquired by researchers within the Mediterranean partner institutions, over a longer period than is possible through workshops. More information about how to apply can be found here