Doha – June 27, 2022: Healthcare professionals in Qatar enhanced their understanding of qualitative research thanks to a course delivered by the Division of Continuing Professional Development at Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar (WCM-Q).

The five-day course demonstrated the merit of using qualitative research in clinical settings, where it can help researchers gain greater understanding of patient experiences than when using quantitative methods alone. 

The course also equipped participants with an understanding of the operation of the scientific process when conducting qualitative research and explained how to integrate scientific rigor and ethics into qualitative research studies. 

Dr. Ziyad Mahfoud, professor of research in population health sciences at WCM-Q, and Dr. Gladys Honein-AbouHaidar, assistant professor in the Hariri School of Nursing at the American University of Beirut, directed the course. 

Dr. Mahfoud said: “Developing a good understanding of the fundamentals of qualitative research is very useful for healthcare researchers because it provides opportunities for gaining insight into the context and complexity of the experiences of patients in clinical settings. It can therefore help us to understand the meaning and relevance of observable phenomena in ways that elude quantitative research methods.” 

The course, titled Introduction to Qualitative Research, was accredited locally by the Ministry of Public Health’s Department of Healthcare Professions – Accreditation Section and internationally by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME).