The 3-MT is a well-recognised academic competition at the post-graduate level where a Master’s degree or PhD student gives a compelling presentation on his/her research topic and its significance in just three minutes. The goal is to enhance the communication skills of students and convey the key point of the research output in layman's language.
Most of the universities worldwide hold this competition on an annual basis. In Qatar, this competition is held annually in nine post-graduate academic institutions, including QU.
The top three finalists of each institution advance to the National 3MT Competition where they all compete together.
The National 3-MT saw 17 postgraduate students from different universities and research institutes in Qatar participating.
The QU-CPH graduate, al-Ziftawi, advanced to the National 3-MT after winning third place at the Qatar University 3-MT. Thirty-three postgraduate students from the Master’s and the PhD programmes from 10 different colleges of QU participated and gave presentations about their theses and dissertations.
At both the National 3-MT and local 3-MT, al-Ziftawi presented a 3-minute presentation on her MSc research project titled 'Clinical and Pharmacoeconomic Analyses of CDK4/6 Inhibitors Use in Stage IV Breast Cancer Females in the State of Qatar: A Comparative Retrospective Observational Study with Cost-Effectiveness and Cost-Utility Analyses'.
The MSc project was supervised by QU-CPH professor of Social and Administrative Pharmacy, Dr Mohamed Izham Mohamed Ibrahim, QU-CHS associate professor of Health Sciences, Dr Mohamed Fasihul Alam, Universiti Sains Malaysia School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, professor of Pharmacoeconomics and Outcome Research, Dr Asrul Akmal Shafie, and assistant director of the Pharmacy Department, National Center for Cancer Care and Research (NCCCR), Dr Shereen El-Azzazy.
The project is also held in collaboration with the NCCCR pharmacy director, Dr Anas Hamad, and NCCCR oncologist Dr Salha Bujassoum.
The significance of this study lies in the fact that it does not only address the clinical aspects of two of the primary medications in the treatment of stage IV breast cancer, but also addresses the economic aspects. Locally, cancer is a well-established challenge in Qatar that was chosen as a major research topic in the Qatar National Research Strategy (QNRS), and breast cancer was at the top of all cancers. Therefore, the findings of this research will directly serve the QNRS mission and would be utilised by stakeholder decision makers to inform them about the most cost-effective use of these two medications, QU said in a statement.
In addition, the findings of this study can be used regionally by countries that have similar economic profiles, healthcare systems and similar populations to Qatar, such as some GCC and Middle Eastern countries, as this research is considered novel to the region. Moreover, the findings can be used internationally for countries that have similar healthcare systems and health economic considerations to Qatar.
