Better Search Skills - Better Healthcare for India

Like many mission-driven organizations, QMed is navigating a period that demands careful thought, difficult decisions and a great deal of resilience. I have found myself spending more time addressing immediate realities than doing the things I enjoy most—conducting workshops or creating content for teaching.

Those realities have revolved around two priorities:

1. Recognition of structured literature searching as a fundamental competency for every health professional.
2. Building long-term financial stability so that QMed can continue its work with confidence rather than uncertainty.

Both of these have occupied much of my time over the past few weeks.

For the first – an opportunity presented itself. The Department of Health Research invited suggestions for a draft National Health Research Policy that they brought out. I submitted detailed recommendations to for this. My suggestions focused on something I have advocated for over many years: that structured literature searching, critical use of evidence, accurate referencing and related research skills should become an integral part of health professions education.

I believe that all the recommendations must find their way into the final policy. They will address a gap that QMed has worked tirelessly to fill for nearly two decades. More importantly, they could ensure that future generations of students and healthcare professionals receive these skills as an essential part of their education, rather than having to discover their importance much later.

July also brought an opportunity for the second - to participate in a fundraising campaign with matching funds. With determined efforts, we raised nearly USD 4,000 (a combination of donations and incentive funds). We express gratitude to the few select friends who have been long-time supporters, thanks to relationships built over years. Their generosity is actually a vote of confidence in QMed's mission - in the belief that better healthcare begins with better research. Such campaign opportunities however, are rare. While this has given us some breathing space, it is exactly that—a breathing space, not a long-term solution.

In recent past, I found myself questioning whether nineteen years of persistence have been enough.

• We have demonstrated the need
  
• We have done much needed work
• We have shown that structured literature searching makes a real difference

The answer, I believe, is that doing good work, however consistently, is not enough on its own. For meaningful and lasting change, the system has to recognize that structured literature searching is not an optional extra. It is a fundamental competency for every health professional. And this needs resources.

I know why QMed started this journey. And I know why it is worth continuing.

My hope now is that the system not only acknowledges the importance of structured literature searching but immediately takes action to ensure that every future health professional is taught these skills. Without that recognition and support, work like ours becomes increasingly difficult to sustain.

I hope it happens before it is too late