Sir Peter Barter visits IMR | Minister launches broadband | PNGIMR delegation visit NARI | Directors directions | EPO project update | Update on PCV project | IMR Goroka get training on DMSys | Staff attend workshop in Malasia | New Staff | Students complete honours | This quater in picture | Gone for studies | Five staff graduate from DWU | Social Research Cadetship program | Malawi HIV/AIDS delegation visit Goroka | Message of Hib vaccie to PNG | Don Lewis revisits PNGIMR | Information for health workers for Hib vaccine | Dual visit Professor M J Cardosa's lab | Michael Alpers library news | IMR women celebrate IWD

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IMR Goroka get training on DMSys

A one week Data managers workshop was held at PNGIMR Goroka from February 12-17th 2007, which saw the data management team in Goroka get hands on training on how to use the new Data Management Software (DMSys).

The DMSys, Data Management System for Clinical Trials, which comes from SigmaSoft International Inc (United States) was recently acquired by PNGIMR and has been in use at PNGIMR Madang since early 2006.

The theme of the workshop was ‘DMSys for Data Managers – Building on the Madang Experience,’ and its aim was to roll-out this new data management system to Goroka in 2007.

Mr Stuart Dobbie who is an AVI working with the PNGIMR Madang Site carried out the training based on his experience with DMSys in several of PNGIMR’s research projects in Madang.

The training would equip Data Managers to create study databases and data entry screens using minimal programming.

Those who took part in the workshop included Mr William Yeka, the head of the Computer and Statistics department, Mr Namarola Lote, Graduate Scientific officer from the Computer and Statistics department and Dr Suparat Phuanukoonnon, a Research Fellow from the Operational Research Unit.

Half a day was spent with the data entry clerks, Mrs Yalum Siba, Mrs Collin Kotale and Ms Elsie Bilam, to have hands-on experience with the new data entry system.

Head of the Computer and Statistics department Mr William Yeka said that the DMSys is built on top of Visual FoxPro, which some of them are already familiar with and it integrates well with the Good Clinical Practices (GCP) program, which studies carried out in PNGIMR, will use.

“Visual FoxPro is an object oriented programming tool and we have found it to be quite difficult and time consuming when programming a simple data entry system. With no training around we always opted to go back and use the old DOS based FoxPro. DMSys assists us the programmers to do this fast with minimal programming,” he said.

Mr Yeka said that the DMSys program will benefit the institute especially the studies that require GCP and that PNGIMR Studies that adhere to GCP protocols will have greater validity, meaning that others would accept their results and some journals will not hesitate to publish their work.

DMSys will enable the data entry clerks to be more accurate and efficient which will reduce the amount of time spent trying to clean the data at the end of a study.

Mr Yeka thanked Dr Ivo Mueller and Professor John Reeder (the former director of PNGIMR) for helping to secure the program, and Professor Peter Siba and Stuart Dobbie for making the DMSys training possible.