types of research medical students

Comprehensive Guide to Research from the Perspective of a Medical Student

• By Dmitry Zavlin, M.D.
• February 9, 2017
• Medical Student , Pre-med

G uest post from Dmitry Zavlin, MD, a research fellow in Houston, Texas. He has been highly productive in his research endeavors and below describes a comprehensive guide to getting involved in research.

Without any doubt whatsoever, high USMLE scores, strong recommendation letters from faculty members, a multitude of away rotations, and an updated and accurate résumé make up the foundation of a strong application for a residency position. Nevertheless, from my personal experience, one topic remains crucial that many medical students either love or hate (or try not to think about it): research . It is an extracurricular activity that enables someone to stand out from the crowd and present oneself as a diverse and multitasking character. These traits are especially favorable when it comes to applying to competitive residency programs with high applicant to position ratios. I encourage every future graduate to look into this topic since – and as astonishing as this may seem – medical school is the ideal opportunity to get your name out there. You don’t need to take a year off from classes or be on an M.D., Ph.D. track. Even those students that do not seek academic careers have a benefit from engaging in scientific duties . It helps you understand the mechanisms of research, the bureaucratic obstacles, the medical challenges, and teaches you communication with peers and faculty. Furthermore, you learn how to read, analyze, and interpret scientific publications of others. And trust me, it’s not all gold that gets printed in journals . On first glance, getting involved in unpaid ventures while you are in class, on rotation, at home studying or just taking some time off for yourself might seem like a bad deal. Yet with a sincere approach towards this subject, you can strengthen your résumé, top off your application, and learn skills that will serve you well into your career as a doctor.

The following lines are intended to display my personal experience that I have made at my medical school and in my interactions with students, residents, fellows, and attendings at my current position.

Choosing your Project

First things first. Naturally, you would want to participate and conduct research in a field of medicine you might see yourself in after graduation. However, as mentioned before, this is not a K.O. criterion. Plenty of personal experiences tell me stories of students who were involved in one area and then switched and matched in a completely different specialty of medicine or completely left the patient-care sector. Therefore, consider your engagement in scientific tasks more of as a symbolization for your work ethic and your ability to perform in a team.

My first tip is to contact the department at your home medical school, introduce yourself, write 1-2 sentences describing your motivations and goals, and ask to sit down with some faculty members or scientific staff to discuss your involvement in any research activities.

Larger departments usually have secretaries or an academic office where your email is less likely to get lost compared to the inbox of a busy professor who receives hundreds of emails per day. Personally, I would aim for junior faculty and potentially senior residents who are experienced enough to conduct research on a high level but are not too far away from the life of a young medical student. Certain departments further have specific full-time research staff that is definitely a great resource for any scientific venture. While it may be helpful to work with the director and senior faculty directly, the sad reality is often that they typically have many academic and administrative duties and activities at their institutions that might not go along well with the schedule of an ambitious student and cause frustration in the long run.

When you meet, make sure to gain and write down as many details as possible:

• What is the topic, what is the goal of this project?
• What type of format is it? (See below)
• What is the current status?
• Who is involved in this research project, what is the team, what are the people to contact?
• What will be my duties?
• Any bureaucratic issues to be aware of (IRB approval, grants, finances)?
• What is the prognosis? Are there any deadlines?

Lastly, ask about the current literature on that topic so you know what your team’s role is going to be in this scientific field. Although one core concept of any research result is reproducibility, it often remains a challenge to publish a project that has already been performed and presented or printed before. Getting involved in an area that is in quick development with high turnaround is subsequently a strong recommendation.

Types of Evidence-Based Research

Now, I would like to talk about the most common options you will encounter when presented with an array of project offers. That way you know their perks and pitfalls before you commit to anything serious and long-lasting and potentially even waste any valuable and limited time of yours.

• Case Reports: These are the most basic and least powerful of scientific contributions to medicine. Give or take, a case report is the summarized hospital or clinic chart of a treated patient who presented with a problem A and was managed with therapy B. A case report that is typically 2-3 pages long with a short intro, a compact case discussion, and perhaps some photos is the closest thing you will get to a patient note you learned to write in early medical school. Their lack of medical value makes them hard to get published in journals and students should not solely rely on these projects as they may not ultimately be accepted by journals. Recommendation: 3/5
• Case Series, Retrospective Study: These layouts are my personal recommendation as they allow quality results within a short period and are not time-consuming or require large long-term commitment as others. Typical examples are an analysis of patients who presented with the same diagnosis or underwent an identical procedure. The difference between a case series and a retrospective study is that for the latter, the patients can be stratified into different subgroups (similar to “case control study”) and statistical calculations can be performed to achieve significant conclusions. Recommendation: 5/5
• Prospective Studies: In these studies, patients are gathered in one or multiple cohorts and are followed-up over long periods of time by lab results, imaging, physical exams etc. These require great time commitment and, from a student perspective, typically only allow a certain amount of participation. These are usually studies for physicians with long relationships with their patients. Recommendation: 3/5
• (Randomized) Clinical Trials : The peak of evidence-based medical research. Similar as prospective studies yet require more planning, IRB approval, and lots of work with industry, grants, protocols, etc. Student involvement is usually marginal. Recommendation: 2/5
• Basic Science, Animal Work: Although these projects require training, approval, and a large amount of preparation, student participation is common in many areas of basic science. The advantage of these laboratory activities is a certain amount of flexibility on when certain tasks and duties can be performed. Within certain limitations, a medical student can get involved in animal or basic science research and assist in specific jobs suitable to his or her personal schedule. Even partial involvement can be enough to get one’s name on a publication. However, lab work can be monotonous and frustrating at times when experiments do not deliver the anticipated results. Sitting in non-stimulation laboratories requires a certain type of character. Recommendation: 4/5
• Descriptions of Innovations: Purely descriptive publications of new surgical techniques, innovative technology, new pharmaceutical drugs, or simply personal statements on evolving subjects, etc. This type of work often demands a given level of expertise and is not typically suitable for graduate research. Recommendation: 2/5
• Reviews, Meta-Analyses: These types of written compositions are based on a literature review. The author’s job is to read through countless, often hundreds of previous publications and create a summary regarding a specific medical topic. Reviews and meta-analysis are particularly useful for issues that are prevalent and have delivered many reports in the past. Whereas a review merely lists the findings of previous research groups, a meta-analysis is able to pool data and conduct statistical analyses. These projects allow great flexibility and can be finished from any location but do not underestimate the time needed to achieve proper results. Recommendation: 4/5

Formats of Publication

What follows is a list of mediums that allow you to get your work to the public. Albeit the concept of most research activities is similar and progresses on akin paths, it is important to agree on a goal early in the research process. Journal articles, for example need to be of highest quality and impeccable when submitted. Presentations must be tailored accordingly depending on what audience you are planning to address. Book chapters need clear guidelines to ensure that your handiwork fits well to the other parts of the volume. Make sure to discuss this topic with your seniors to understand their expectations from you.

• Journal Articles: These are the highest quality format that you can use to submit your research work for the world to see. Upon arrival at the journal’s office, the editorial office first reviews your manuscript and determines its eligibility. Next, it is sent off to a number of anonymous reviewers who judge your documents and suggest if it is worth publication, if it needs changes, or if it should be rejected. Being an author on articles in peer-reviewed journal is the strongest support to improve your application. Recommendation: 5/5
• Podium Presentations: These are typically 5-15min PowerPoint conferences or similar in front of regional, national, and international audiences of students, residents, nurses, scientists, and board-certified physicians. While your work might be less accessible to the world than published articles, it is still recommended to submit your accomplishments to such conventions. Aim for national conferences rather than regional ones. Recommendation: 4/5 for (inter)national, 3/5 for regional conferences
• Poster Presentations: A classic poster session is where you travel to a conference, hang your poster with a summary of your research findings (similar to a short abstract) and are available for others to review your work and ask questions. In some cases, poster sessions are requested by conferences when you apply for podium presentations but your projects are not considered beneficial enough. Recommendation: 3/5
• Book Chapters: Senior physicians, faculty members, or experts on a certain field are sometimes asked to write segments of medical or scientific books that are soon to be brought on sale to the market. In certain cases, students or residents write segments of such book chapters for the senior author. From personal experience, these projects are a long-term process as they go into extreme medical detail. On the upside, publication with your name on it is almost guaranteed. Unfortunately, these types of publications are not of high evidence-based research and should only be considered as a secondary side project Recommendation: 3/5

Basic and Necessary Know-How

After choosing your project you need to learn and understand how the scientific process works once you have your results ready for publication. Conducting the studies, experiments, and the literature reviews is one part of the research job. Presenting your findings is the other side of the coin. Read many publications on the same subject and study what a paper is supposed to look like. Analyze the language the authors use. It has to be straight to the point, factual, objective, leave out unnecessary information yet avoid long soporific segments of repeating details. Your audience will want to hear a hypothesis, the methodology of your venture on how said hypothesis should be tested, your results, and an antiseptic interpretation thereof. Having a senior writer review your work is therefore crucial in the beginnings of a research career.

Next, and this may seem like a no-brainer, learn how to properly and efficiently use today’s available technology to your advantage. Learn the most important features of your word processing software. Get access to a tool that allows to sort and list literature references and full versions of articles, preferably in PDF format. If you share files with others or work simultaneously at different sites, use a cloud service to keep your files in synchronization across all your devices. Any photo, video, or graph-editing software with some artistic skills might come in handy as well. Lastly, learn some basic mathematical and statistical skills and obtain a statistical software. Research is nothing if you cannot back up your story by some hard numbers. Study what a t-test, a type I error, and a type II error are and how they work. Understand when you have to use chi-square and when the Fisher’s exact test . This list goes on and on. You do not need a Ph.D. degree in biometrics or stochastic calculus to be involved in medical research but even basic skills can set you far ahead of others and you will stand out from the crowd. Additionally, all these things I just mentioned facilitate your projects by incredible amounts and allow you to publish your results faster. Capitalize on the technology that is available today!

Finally, learn how to revise current literature and how to look for references to back up your ideas or contrast your data to those of other groups. In the end, research is a competition almost like any other business sector; except that money is not necessarily the number one objective but rather prestige and impact.  Pubmed is a valuable search engine, for instance, that allows you to go through the MEDLINE database and find similar publications to your project. UpToDate is a practical tool that is constantly refreshed by countless experts and gives access to the latest guidelines on specific topics. One of my former attendings always said that publishing a paper is like selling a car: you have to know the market and emphasize the upsides of your work to gain interest of others. Have all these files clean and tide on your computer from day 1, so you can keep a good overview of things and track your progress.

Further Aspects to Consider

When you start a new research project, figure out who your team is that you will be working with as this will determine the authors and their order on a potential publication. Make sure your name appears on the final manuscript if you have brought significant effort and input towards the project. As the New England Journal of Medicine, one of the largest and most prestigious journals in the field, states:

“Credit for authorship requires (a) substantial contributions to the conception and design; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of the data, (b) the drafting of the article or critical revision for important intellectual content, (c) final approval of the version to be published, and (d) agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the article are appropriately investigated and resolved.”

The more work you put in, the further your name should appear up front. The final position of a scientific publication is usually reserved for the senior author (principal investigator) and the head of the team.

The last issue that needs to be mentioned here are finances. Even if you are working on a retrospective study and are just simply scrolling through patient charts to gather data, special software, travel to conferences, fees for journals (author processing charge for open access) can rapidly add up. Basic science ventures may require additional funding. Knowing your resources is crucial for any research. The discussion of money may seem like a sensitive subject and “above your pay grade” yet I recommend approaching this topic with open cards when the right moment comes.

Final Words

Despite the downsides of scientific work, I still believe the majority of students should experience the art of research that has made medicine what it is now. Yes, research is frequently frustrating and consumes many of your physical and mental resources. Yes, a majority of jobs after residency do not include research. Still, I will never forget the great feeling of my first accepted publication and when I immediately continued to strive towards the next challenge. Henceforward, research had something rewarding and appealing about it. In the long run, this highly dynamic profession is probably not suited for all future physicians, yet I can only repeat myself and encourage everyone to give it a try.

Dmitry Zavlin graduated with an M.D. from the Technical University of Munich in 2015.

He currently works as a research fellow in Houston.

To contact the author, please visit www.zavlin.com

Dmitry Zavlin, M.D.

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Awesome summary, really helpful for me as a med student!

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Medical Research

How to conduct research as a medical student, this article will address how to conduct research as a medical student, including details on different types of research, how to go about constructing an idea and other practical advice., kevin seely, oms iv.

Student Doctor Seely attends the Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine.

In addition to good grades, test performance, and notable characteristics, it is becoming increasingly important for medical students to participate in and publish research. Residency programs appreciate seeing that applicants are interested in improving the treatment landscape of medicine through the scientific method.

Many medical students also recognize that research is important. However, not all schools emphasize student participation in research or have associations with research labs. These factors, among others, often leave students wanting to do research but unsure of how to begin. This article will address how to conduct research as a medical student, including details on different types of research, how to go about constructing an idea, and other practical advice.

Types of research commonly conducted by medical students

This is not a comprehensive list, but rather, a starting point.

Case reports and case series

Case reports are detailed reports of the clinical course of an individual patient. They usually describe an unusual or novel occurrence or provide new evidence related to a specific pathological entity and its treatment. Advantages of case reports include a relatively fast timeline and little to no need for funding. A disadvantage, though, is that these contribute the most basic and least powerful scientific evidence and provide researchers with minimal exposure to the scientific process.

Case series, on the other hand, look at multiple patients retrospectively. In addition, statistical calculations can be performed to achieve significant conclusions, rendering these studies great for medical students to complete to get a full educational experience.

Clinical research

Clinical research is the peak of evidence-based medical research. Standard study designs include case-controlled trials, cohort studies or survey-based research. Clinical research requires IRB review, strict protocols and large sample sizes, thus requiring dedicated time and often funding. These can serve as barriers for medical students wanting to conduct this type of research. Be aware that the AOA offers students funding for certain research projects; you can learn more here . This year’s application window has closed, but you can always plan ahead and apply for the next grant cycle.

The advantages of clinical research include making a significant contribution to the body of medical knowledge and obtaining an understanding of what it takes to conduct clinical research. Some students take a dedicated research year to gain experience in this area.

Review articles

A literature review is a collection and summarization of literature on an unresolved, controversial or novel topic. There are different categories of reviews, including meta-analyses, systematic reviews and traditional literature reviews, offering very high, high and modest evidentiary value, respectively. Advantages of review articles include the possibility of remote collaboration and developing expertise on the subject matter. Disadvantages can include the time needed to complete the review and the difficulty of publishing this type of research.

Forming an idea

Research can be inspiring and intellectually stimulating or somewhat painful and dull. It’s helpful to first find an area of medicine in which you are interested and willing to invest time and energy. Then, search for research opportunities in this area. Doing so will make the research process more exciting and will motivate you to perform your best work. It will also demonstrate your commitment to your field of interest.

Think carefully before saying yes to studies that are too far outside your interests. Having completed research on a topic about which you are passionate will make it easier to recount your experience with enthusiasm and understanding in interviews. One way to refine your idea is by reading a recent literature review on your topic, which typically identifies gaps in current knowledge that need further investigation.

Finding a mentor

As medical students, we cannot be the primary investigator on certain types of research studies. So, you will need a mentor such as a DO, MD or PhD. If a professor approaches you about a research study, say yes if it’s something you can commit to and find interesting.

More commonly, however, students will need to approach a professor about starting a project. Asking a professor if they have research you can join is helpful, but approaching them with a well-thought-out idea is far better. Select a mentor whose area of interest aligns with that of your project. If they seem to think your idea has potential, ask them to mentor you. If they do not like your idea, it might open up an intellectual exchange that will refine your thinking. If you proceed with your idea, show initiative by completing the tasks they give you quickly, demonstrating that you are committed to the project.

Writing and publishing

Writing and publishing are essential components of the scientific process. Citation managers such as Zotero, Mendeley, and Connected Papers are free resources for keeping track of literature. Write using current scientific writing standards. If you are targeting a particular journal, you can look up their guidelines for writing and referencing. Writing is a team effort.

When it comes time to publish your work, consult with your mentor about publication. They may or may not be aware of an appropriate journal. If they’re not, Jane , the journal/author name estimator, is a free resource to start narrowing down your journal search. Beware of predatory publishing practices and aim to submit to verifiable publications indexed on vetted databases such as PubMed.

One great option for the osteopathic profession is the AOA’s Journal of Osteopathic Medicine (JOM). Learn more about submitting to JOM here .

My experience

As a second-year osteopathic medical student interested in surgery, my goal is to apply to residency with a solid research foundation. I genuinely enjoy research, and I am a member of my institution’s physician-scientist co-curricular track. With the help of amazing mentors and co-authors, I have been able to publish a literature review and a case-series study in medical school. I currently have some additional projects in the pipeline as well.

My board exams are fast approaching, so I will soon have to adjust the time I am currently committing to research. Once boards are done, though, you can bet I will be back on the research grind! I am so happy to be on this journey with all my peers and colleagues in medicine. Research is a great way to advance our profession and improve patient care.

 Keys to success

Research is a team effort. Strive to be a team player who communicates often and goes above and beyond to make the project a success. Be a finisher. Avoid joining a project if you are not fully committed, and employ resiliency to overcome failure along the way. Treat research not as a passive process, but as an active use of your intellectual capability. Push yourself to problem-solve and discover. You never know how big of an impact you might make.

Disclaimers:

Human subject-based research always requires authorization and institutional review before beginning. Be sure to follow your institution’s rules before engaging in any type of research.

This column was written from the perspective from a current medical student with the review and input from my COM’s director of research and scholarly activity, Amanda Brooks, PhD. 

Related reading:

H ow to find a mentor in medical school

Tips on surviving—and thriving—during your first year of medical school

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How to Get Involved in Research As A Medical Student

• by Dr. Mike Ren
• Apr 11, 2023
• Reviewed by: Amy Rontal, MD

It goes without saying that getting involved in research as a medical student, while an important part of the medical school experience , can also be an intimidating prospect. Not only are you balancing a hectic schedule, but it’s tough to know how (and where) to get started.

So, how exactly do you secure an appropriate, fulfilling research opportunity that will enhance your residency application and put you on track for success? To answer that question, we’ll walk through the absolute fundamentals of pursuing research as a medical student. 

Commitment, Benefits, and Where to Begin

What are the advantages of participating in research as a medical student.

As mentioned, r esearch is an important component of the residency application. Particularly, if you are interested and invested in a particular aspect of medicine or if you want to match into a competitive specialty or at a nationally-ranked academic institution. 

Research experience helps to strengthen a resume and allows candidates to fill in for gaps in their application. For instance, an academic program director might be willing to overlook an applicant’s marginal pass on an elective rotation if that applicant demonstrates strong participation in research. This is not a “magic bullet” to matching with a residency program, however—the priority here is still pass your rotations and national licensing exams.

Further, some applicants find research opportunities so appealing that they even take a research year to churn out publications and present at national conferences. Quality and quantity are both important in terms of publications and presentations. Participating in research as a medical student can help you network as well, further advancing your career in medicine, academia, or industry.

So, how do you get into a research project that eventually yields publications and acclaim?

How much of a time commitment is research?

Look, I get it. You’re a busy medical student. Last week you prepared in order to lead a women’s health interest group meeting, this week you have those pesky histology lectures to catch up on, and next week is a particularly intimidating anatomy practical.  Not to mention, you haven’t had a date night with your significant other since Valentine’s Day because you’ve been busy with your pharmacology study group, and you still have to call your mom.

How will you possibly have time for research in an already hectic MS1 year and how much time should you allot to the cause? 

To put things into perspective, keep in mind that research time ranges from entire month-long electives to a more longitudinal approach. The most common is longitudinal research— this involves working on a project a few hours a week over the course of 6-18 months, typically with a few dedicated weeks near completion to make the publishing deadline. Busy students should dedicate around 10-20 hours weekly for tasks such as obtaining IRB approval, reviewing charts, or writing drafts. 

Alright, I’m interested. Where do I start?

You’ve heard this before. “Just ask!” Often, it’s as simple as that. Create opportunities for yourself by being enthusiastic and inquisitive. Seek out attendings or residents on your rotations, ask if there are any research projects they know of or are involved in. Research is a team effort, and oftentimes, residents will have unfinished projects that could use the help of a medical student to complete. 

Another common finding is that graduating students or students who’ve changed interests do not wish to further continue their projects. This can be a great place to pick up where they left off, as some of the work may already be finished before you even start. (As a disclaimer for this approach: I would be cautious to ask to ensure the project in question is not an issue. Red flags in this case are if the publication process is in limbo or significantly delayed, if funding has ceased, or if the PI plans to change roles/jobs.)

Cast a wide net and email attendings whose research you find interesting and ask if there is any way to get involved. Some of your requests will be ignored (don’t take it personally, people are just busy!) but by and large, academics are helpful and even if they don’t have a project that matches your interests, they will likely have a colleague to direct you to. 

So, whether you are interested in starting a project or joining an existing one, start drafting your emails. After all, what do you have to lose? 

Choosing a Research Opportunity

Pick an activity that aligns with your goals.

Naturally, you want to ensure the research activity you participate in aligns with your goals because, ultimately when you interview for residency or an introductory consulting position, or for a job in biotech, having a coherent theme in your publications that position alongside your passions will distinguish you amongst your peers.

Find a good fit with your PI

To get started on a research project, you will first need to find a mentor or principal investigator (PI). Criteria vary but generally, most agree that a good PI is:

• 1. Prolific: They have had various publications over the past decade with academic peer-reviewed journals.
• 2. Responsive: They do not take weeks to answer emails or are not away from their lab for weeks at a time.
• 3. Has aligned interests: Publication takes a lot of work, often involving potentially hundreds of hours of effort. Thus, you and your PI should see it as a big deal. Make sure it is something you are interested in and advances your career whether you’re in a lab doing cell cultures or editing epidemiology papers or designing bio wearables at the intersection of healthcare and technology.
• 4. Has adequate funding: This ensures you can be compensated, or at the very least your project has the funding necessary to move forward. Publishing in top-tier academic journals isn’t cheap!

Keep in mind that some residencies have research time built in, often in the form of research electives that can last months to a year. If your desired program allows, and you remain interested in research, share your research interests and projects to see if it can be continued at the institution, or if there is something in a similar realm. 

Decide which type of research project you’d like to pursue

The following are different types of medical research you could pursue as a medical student. This is not a comprehensive list, but rather, a starting point for where to look and how to increase your research output:

Image Source: NIH

Option #1: Case Reports and Series

A case report is a detailed write-up about the clinical course of a particular patient —an interesting presentation, an unusual case, a new potential treatment. It is used to describe an unusual or novel occurrence based on disease process, diagnosis, and/or treatment.  

Pay attention when you are on rotations if you see anything interesting or unusual. Do a quick PubMed search to see what’s already out there and if there isn’t much, take the initiative and ask your attending to write it.   

Case series, on the other hand, look at multiple patients in a retrospective manner. Case series are more tedious to write but also look better on an application as they provide more significant scientific conclusions. 

• – Easy to write
• – Least time-consuming 
• – No funding needed
• – Quick to publish if yours is accepted 
• – Usually the least intensive data mining
• – Not as impressive (thus easier to write and fast to publish)  
• – Journals receive so many so it can be difficult to publish

Option #2: Clinical Research

This is the cream of the crop, the nitty gritty evidence-based medical research. Typically this includes the studies and trials you read about for the biostats portion of your exams. Anything from randomized trials to case-controlled trials and cohort studies are included in this broad category. 

• – Highly regarded on applications  
• – AOA offers students funding for certain research projects
• – Significant contribution to medicine/science in your field 
• – Publication includes more prestigious journals 
• – Many barriers of entry (time, funding, depth of research)
• – Requires IRB review meaning strict protocols 
• – Requires large sample sizes, thus requiring dedicated time and often funding. 
• – Students often use a dedicated research year to gain experience in this area.
• – Slow and grueling publication process and peer review 

Option #3: Literature/Chart Review

Systematic literature or chart reviews basically existing work on a particular, unresolved, or controversial topic in medicine. There are different categories including meta-analyses, systematic reviews, and traditional literature reviews. 

This type of research typically involves combing through dozens to hundreds of charts in search of information that is relevant to the research question you are asking (i.e., scouring through charts for patients with multiple myeloma that were treated with a particular therapy and looking at the outcomes). Programs like Zotero can be helpful to make your searches easier. 

Furthermore, research librarians can be extremely helpful in using search tools, formatting your research, and going about the systematic review process in general. I highly recommend you reach out to your school librarian before you dive in as they are often a high-yield resource. 

• – Accessible for students
• – Meta-analysis and systematic reviews offer higher value and are more renowned
• – Can often be done in remote collaboration 
• – Flexible hours of work 
• – Time-consuming to review 
• – You will need access to various journals to be reviewed
• – Tedious and repetitive work that is heavy in data analysis 
• – Highly specialized! A sk your attendings for topic ideas as they will have a better sense of what is relevant in the field and what has the best chance of publication

What to Do After Publishing Your Research

You put in the effort, now it’s time to reap the rewards! While your friends or parents might not take note that you’re a footnote in this publication in NEJM, resident programs are sure to find out.  

On ERAS, there are separate sections for presentations and publications —one dropdown for papers that have already been published, and one for papers that have been submitted/accepted/in press. These appear separately on ERAS, so it’s ideal to have more in the “published” section, preferably in journals that are within your field. The topics look something like this: 

• – Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles/Abstracts
• – Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles/Abstracts (Other than Published = Submitted/Accepted)
• – Peer-Reviewed Book Chapter
• – Scientific Monograph
• – Poster Presentation
• – Oral Presentation
• – Peer-Reviewed Online Publication
• – Non-Peer-Reviewed Online Publication

6 Tips for Medical Students Getting Involved in Research

• 1. Realize that research can be a very slow process. Even prestigious journals can hold on to submissions for months before ultimately making the decision to publish. 
• 2. We are not cavemen, use tools! Web and citation tools such as Medeley and Connected Papers are free to use and help a great deal when it comes to tracking literature. 
• 3. Formatting is important. Always read the instructions for authors on the websites of the journals you are submitting to. Each journal will have different, often strict specifications from the formatting and scientific writing standards to citation guidelines. The process between submission and publication will be a lot smoother if you follow the instructions ahead of time to avoid the back and forth before going to peer review.
• 4. Writing is a team effort. Be sure to consult your teammates and definitely notify your PI if you have a concern or are unsure about some data.  
• 5. You can only submit a particular paper to one journal at a time. Don’t submit the same paper to multiple journals at the same time. 
• 6. Lastly, there have been increasing reports of predatory publishing scams. Always use protection and avoid these by first verifying publications that exist on legitimate databases such as PubMed. Stay safe!

Overall, the process of publishing research can be very frustrating, but also very rewarding, especially if you are genuinely interested in research or the topic. Remember to invest time to understand the demands before committing to the project. 

Discuss with the principal investigator what you want out of the project and be clear about your time commitment and intentions. Ask classmates for help and pass the word on to others. If you need it, take some extra time for your research. Good luck!

About the Author

Mike is a driven tutor and supportive advisor. He received his MD from Baylor College of Medicine and then stayed for residency. He has recently taken a faculty position at Baylor because of his love for teaching. Mike’s philosophy is to elevate his students to their full potential with excellent exam scores, and successful interviews at top-tier programs. He holds the belief that you learn best from those close to you in training. Dr. Ren is passionate about his role as a mentor and has taught for much of his life – as an SAT tutor in high school, then as an MCAT instructor for the Princeton Review. At Baylor, he has held review courses for the FM shelf and board exams as Chief Resident.   For years, Dr. Ren has worked closely with the office of student affairs and has experience as an admissions advisor. He has mentored numerous students entering medical and residency and keeps in touch with many of them today as they embark on their road to aspiring physicians. His supportiveness and approachability put his students at ease and provide a safe learning environment where questions and conversation flow. For exam prep, Mike will help you develop critical reasoning skills and as an advisor he will hone your interview skills with insider knowledge to commonly asked admissions questions.

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How to get involved in research as a medical student

• Related content
• Peer review
• Anna Kathryn Taylor , final year medical student 1 ,
• Sarah Purdy , professor of primary care and associate dean 1
• 1 Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Bristol, UK

Participating in research gives students great skills and opportunities. Anna Taylor and Sarah Purdy explain how to get started

This article contains:

-How to get involved with research projects

-Questions to ask yourself before starting research

-What can you get published? Research output

-Advice for contacting researchers

-Different types of research explained

-Stages of research projects

Students often go into medicine because of a desire to help others and improve patients’ physical and mental wellbeing. In the early years of medical school, however, it can seem as if you are not making much difference to patient care. Involvement in research can provide exciting opportunities to work as part of a team, improve career prospects, and most importantly add to the evidence base, leading to better outcomes for patients.

Research is usually multidisciplinary, including clinical academics (medical doctors who spend part of their working life doing research), nurses, patients, scientists, and researchers without a medical background. Involvement in such a team can improve your communication skills and expand your understanding of how a multidisciplinary team works.

Participating in research can also help you to develop skills in writing and critical appraisal through the process of publishing your work. You may be able to present your work at conferences—either as a poster or an oral presentation—and this can provide valuable points for job applications at both foundation programme and core training level. This is particularly important if you are considering a career in academia. You will also develop skills in time management, problem solving, and record keeping. You might discover an area of medicine in which you are keen to carry out further work. For some people, getting involved in research as a medical student can be the first step in an academic career.

Kyla Thomas, National Institute for Health Research clinical lecturer in public health at the University of Bristol, says, “my first baby steps into a clinical academic career started with a research project I completed as a medical student. That early involvement in research opened my eyes to a whole new world of opportunities that I never would have considered.

“Importantly, participating in undergraduate research sets students apart from their colleagues. Applying for foundation posts is a competitive process and it is a definite advantage if you have managed to obtain a peer reviewed publication.”

Getting involved with research projects

Although it is possible to do research at medical school, it is important to be realistic about how much free time you have. It might be possible to set up your own research project, but this will require substantial planning in terms of writing research protocols, gaining ethical approval, and learning about new research methodologies. Other opportunities for research that make less demands on your time include:

Intercalated degrees—these often have time set aside for research in a specific area, so it is important to choose your degree according to what you might like to do for your dissertation (for example, laboratory-based work in biochemistry, or qualitative research in global health. Some subjects may have options in both qualitative and quantitative research).

Student selected components or modules can provide a good opportunity to be involved in an ongoing study or research project. If you have a long project period, you might be able to develop your own small project.

Electives and summer holidays can also provide dedicated time for research, either within the United Kingdom or in another country. They can allow you to become established in a research group if you’re there for a few weeks, and can lead to a longstanding relationship with the research group if you continue to work with them over your medical school career.

If you don’t know what to do, contacting the Student Audit and Research in Surgery (STARSurg), 1 the National Student Association of Medical Research (NSAMR), 2 or your medical school’s research society may be a good place to start.

The INSPIRE initative, 3 coordinated by the Academy of Medical Sciences, gives support and grants to help students take part in research. Some UK medical schools have small grants for elective and summer projects, and organise taster days for students to get an idea of different research areas.

You may also be able to access other grants or awards to support your research. Some of the royal colleges, such as the Royal College of General Practitioners and the Royal College of Psychiatrists, offer bursaries to students doing research in their holidays or presenting at conferences. Other national organisations, such as the Medical Women’s Federation, offer bursaries for elective projects.

Box 1: Questions to ask yourself before starting research

What are you interested in? There is no point getting involved in a project area that you find boring.

How much time do you have available? It is crucial to think about this before committing to a project, so that your supervisor can give you an appropriate role.

What do you want to get out of your research experience? Do you want a brief insight into research? Or are you hoping for a publication or presentation?

Do you know any peers or senior medical students who are involved in research? Ask them about their experiences and whether they know of anyone who might be willing to include you in a project.

Box 2: Research output

Publication —This is the “gold standard” of output and usually consists of an article published in a PubMed ID journal. This can lead to your work being cited by another researcher for their paper, and you can get up to two extra points on foundation programme applications if you have published papers with a PubMed ID.

Not all research will get published, but there are other ways to show your work, such as presenting at conferences:

Oral presentation —This involves giving a short talk about your research, describing the background, methods, and results, then talking about the implications of your findings.

Poster presentation —This involves creating a poster, usually A1 or A2 in size, summarising the background, methods, and results of your research. At a conference, presenters stand by their poster and answer questions from other delegates.

Contacting researchers

Most universities have information about their research groups on their websites, so spend some time exploring what studies are being carried out and whether you are interested in one of the research topics.

When contacting a member of the research group, ask if they or someone else within their team would be willing to offer you some research experience. Be honest if you don’t have any prior experience and about the level of involvement you are looking for, but emphasise what it is about their research that interests you and why you want to work with them. It’s important to have a flexible approach to what they offer you—it may not initially sound very exciting, but it will be a necessary part of the research process, and may lead to more interesting research activity later.

Another way to make contact with researchers is at university talks or lectures. It might be intimidating to approach senior academics, but if you talk to them about your interest they will be more likely to remember you if you contact them later on.

Box 3: What can students offer research teams?—Views from researchers

“Medical students come to research with a ‘fresh eyes’ perspective and a questioning mindset regarding the realities of clinical practice which, as a non-medic myself, serves to remind me of the contextual challenges of implementing recommendations from our work.”

Alison Gregory, senior research associate, Centre for Academic Primary Care, University of Bristol, UK.

“Enthusiasm, intelligence, and a willingness to learn new skills to solve challenges—bring those attributes and you’ll be valuable to most research teams.”

Tony Pickering, consultant anaesthetist and Wellcome Trust senior research fellow, University of Bristol, UK.

Box 4: Different types of research

Research aims to achieve new insights into disease, investigations, and treatment, using methodologies such as the ones listed below:

Qualitative research —This can be used to develop a theory and to explain how and why people behave as they do. 4 It usually involves exploring the experience of illness, therapeutic interventions, or relationships, and can be compiled using focus groups, structured interviews, consultation analysis, 5 or ethnography. 6

Quantitative research —This aims to quantify a problem by generating numerical data, and may test a hypothesis. 7 Research projects can use chemicals, drugs, biological matter, or even computer generated models. Quantitative research might also involve using statistics to evaluate or compare interventions, such as in a randomised controlled trial.

Epidemiological research —This is the study of the occurrence and distribution of disease, the determinants influencing health and disease states, and the opportunities for prevention. It often involves the analysis of large datasets. 4

Mixed methods research —This form of research incorporates both quantitative and qualitative methodologies.

Systematic reviews —These provide a summary of the known evidence base around a particular research question. They often create new data by combining other quantitative (meta-analysis) or qualitative (meta-ethnography) studies. They are often used to inform clinical guidelines.

Box 5: Stages of research projects

Project conception—Come up with a hypothesis or an objective for the project and form the main research team.

Write the research protocol—Produce a detailed description of the methodology and gain ethical approval, if needed.

Carry out the methodology by collecting the data.

Analyse the data.

Decide on the best way to disseminate your findings—for example, a conference presentation or a publication—and where you will do this.

Write up your work, including an abstract, in the format required by your chosen journal or conference.

Submit . For conference abstracts, you may hear back swiftly whether you have been offered the chance to present. Publication submissions, however, must be peer reviewed before being accepted and it can take over a year for a paper to appear in print.

Originally published as: Student BMJ 2017;25:i6593

Competing interests: AKT received grant money from INSPIRE in 2013.

Provenance and peer review: Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

• ↵ STARSurg. Student Audit and Research in Surgery. 2016. www.starsurg.org .
• ↵ NSAMR. National Student Association of Medical Research. 2016. www.nsamr.org .
• ↵ The Academy of Medical Sciences. About the INSPIRE initiative. 2016. www.acmedsci.ac.uk/careers/mentoring-and-careers/INSPIRE/about-INSPIRE/ .
• ↵ Ben-Shlomo Y, Brookes ST, Hickman M. Lecture Notes: Epidemiology, Evidence-based Medicine and Public Health. 6th ed . Wiley-Blackwell, 2013 .
• ↵ gp-training.net. Consultation Theory. 2016. www.gp-training.net/training/communication_skills/consultation/consultation_theory.htm .
• ↵ Reeves S, Kuper A, Hodges BD. Qualitative research methodologies: ethnography. BMJ 2008 ; 337 : a1020 . doi:10.1136/bmj.a1020   pmid:18687725 . OpenUrl FREE Full Text
• ↵ Porta M. A Dictionary of Epidemiology. 5th ed . Oxford University Press, 2008 .

Twelve tips for successfully getting involved in research as a medical student

Affiliation.

• 1 UCL Medical School, University College London, Bloomsbury, London, UK.
• PMID: 33914675
• DOI: 10.1080/0142159X.2021.1915469

Medical research is a highly competitive yet vital part of medical training, spanning all specialties. Extra-curricular, research-related activities are a key method by which students develop interest in their field of choice, and a competitive edge in medical students. The lack of research education and opportunities within medical school teaching tends to force medical students to look beyond their degree to obtain this experience, and is often the reason why students have little research involvement whilst in medical school. Self-reflecting on one's personality and suitability for different types of research is vital, as well as understanding the nature of research and preparing appropriately before undertaking projects. This paper presents twelve tips for medical students who are interested in pursuing research, offering targeted strategies to get involved.

Keywords: Medical research; projects; publications; students.

• Biomedical Research* / education
• Education, Medical*
• Schools, Medical
• Students, Medical*

How to Conduct Research During Medical School

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Most med schools in the United States require that you participate in some sort of scholarly project. Participation in the academic life of medicine is a great way to enhance your residency applications, and it may even be expected or required to successfully match in the most competitive specialties.

Traditionally, medical student research took the shape of a formal research opportunity in a research lab with a research mentor, culminating in a publication. Today, research in medical school takes a variety of forms, including the traditional one.

Beyond the typical lab format, medical students engage in scholarship by conducting poster presentations, writing up case presentations of interesting diseases they have encountered on the wards, or participating in quality improvement initiatives or other health systems science projects. All of these scholarly pursuits fall under the broad category of “research”, which may be required during medical school, and all contribute to the strength of a student’s residency application. 

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Is It Even Possible to Do Research in Medical School? 

With all the day-to-day challenges of medical school, it can be difficult to see where time for research fits in. With good planning and time management, however, you can include research in medical school. While fulfilling your clerkship requirements, studying and passing exams and courses, and taking care of patients are all top priorities, carving out time for research is certainly a possibility, especially on lighter rotations and with the udicious use of elective time. 

Many medical schools now offer a dedicated research period for you to engage in scholarship. Depending on the project, this period may be more or less time than you need to complete your research. You should check to see if your school offers dedicated time for research, and when it is.If you do have a dedicated research block, checking with your school about the expectations for deliverables at the end of the time period, as well as whether the block is structured or unstructured, will help you to make the most of this block.

If your school does not offer a specific time period for research and you anticipate needing to work on a project full-time, using elective time for research or scheduling research during lighter rotations can be a great way to make the time you need for research. 

When is the best time to do research in medical school? 

For many medical students, especially those applying to highly competitive specialties, you’ll want to start thinking about when to do research in medical school early in your academic career. If you know you have specific research or subspecialty interest going into medical school, start looking for a research project or mentor as soonas possible. This will maximize your chances of completing published research by the time you need to apply for a residency program.

If you are not sure about research or aren’t interested in conducting research at all, waiting until closer to your residency application and choosing an interesting case or project to present as a case conference or poster may make more sense. If you do intend to publish a paper or complete a large scholarly project, make sure you start early so that your project is complete in time for residency applications, recognizing that not every project results in a publication. For larger projects, it makes sense to have identified a research mentor and to start working on your project sometime before the beginning of your second year.

Keep in mind that the publication process of peer review and article revisions can take longer than anticipated, and your article may not appear in print until several months after you submit your abstract.

Smaller projects, such as a case vignette or poster presentation, typically have a much faster turnaround time – usually only a few months from project inception to presentation, depending on the venue where you present. 

Do you have to do research in medical school?

Even for physicians in training who have no desire to do research after medical school, research can be a useful way to build skills that will be helpful in their future career. For instance, a student interested in hospital medicine might use the research time to complete a quality improvement project on reducing the risk of infections acquired in a hospital, which in turn might help them in a future role as a medical director.

A future general surgeon might decide to use the research time to get an MBA, helping them gain the business skills necessary to run a successful independent practice. A prospective infectious disease specialist might conduct a public health study that gets them comfortable with interpreting statistics, which could be beneficial when running a local health department.

Students who are not interested in staying in academics after graduation but are required to do research should make use of dedicated research time to build skills that they can apply outside of the academic world. 

How to Do Research as a Medical Student

Every good research project starts with a question. You’re far more likely to stay engaged in research, and to produce a good research product, if you have a real interest in the question your project aims to answer. Once you’ve identified a question you hope to answer, ask your professors, attending physicians, and even other classmates if they know of anyone working on a similar question.

While you might not identify someone working on exactly what you are interested in, you’ll likely find someone with similar interests who can direct you to someone who is well-aligned with your interests. Once you identify a research mentor, it’s up to you to determine what your goals are in doing research.

If you intend to publish a paper that appears in a top-notch medical journal, for instance, your research will probably require more time and effort than if you hope to do a case presentation of an interesting disease you encountered on rounds.

Try to tailor the scope of your project to the time you have available to complete it. “I want to cure cancer” is not a realistic goal for a research project to complete as a medical student, but working on a specific gene pathway with a goal of presenting a poster at a national conference might be! 

How to find research opportunities

Finding research opportunities as a medical student starts with identifying your area of interest. Do you have a subspecialty you are particularly fascinated by? If so, reaching out to an academic specialist in your area of interest is a great first step to finding research opportunities.

Fascinated by a particular case you saw on rounds? Ask your attending physician if they think the case might be appropriate for a poster presentation or to present at an academic conference. Not interested in writing up case reports or writing long research abstracts? Maybe an opportunity in quality improvement is right for you – ask your attending physicians if there are any hospital-level projects or initiatives which could benefit from some help.

Do you have a specific idea that you think could change the world? Try applying for a research grant or scholarship to help fund that opportunity and make it a reality. In many medical schools, and especially in those associated with academic research centers, the only limitations on research opportunities are those of your own imagination! 

How is medical research funded?

Most medical research projects conducted by medical students are not funded and occur on the side, with a student volunteering their time and effort toward a project. However, if you are planning on a more extensive project that would take you away from your normal studies for a year or more, there are a variety of foundations and funded research opportunities that you can use to support yourself during the time you are conducting your research.

Generally speaking, the best opportunity to engage in funded medical research is by enrolling in a combined MD/PhD program.

If you are interested in a specific field of study and want to have protected, dedicated time to engage in medical research prior to residency, a combined MD/PhD program will give you the best balance of clinical and research training. However, MD/PhD programs are highly selective and are not available at every medical school.

You can learn more about combined degree programs on the AAMC website . The American Physician Scientists Association also maintains a list of funding opportunities for MD/PhD candidates on their website.  

To Sum It Up…

Spending some time engaging in research during medical school can be rewarding, both personally and professionally. Although opportunities to engage in traditional research abound in medical school, students who are not interested in this can explore alternatives to traditional research, like case presentations, quality improvement projects, or even dual degree programs like an MBA. Pursuing research in any of these forms can be a great way to improve your residency application and help you develop the skills you need to succeed long after medical school.

Dr. Brennan Kruszewski is a practicing internist and primary care physician in Beachwood, Ohio. He graduated from Emory University School of Medicine in 2018, and recently completed his residency in Internal Medicine at University Hospitals/Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. He enjoys writing about a variety of medical topics, including his time in academic medicine and how to succeed as a young physician. In his spare time, he is an avid cyclist, lover of classical literature, and choral singer.

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Research Blog

Unraveling the world of medical research: a comprehensive guide for medical students.

I hope you enjoy reading this blog post.

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Embarking on a journey in medical research can be both rewarding and challenging for medical students. This blog provides a comprehensive guide to help medical students navigate the world of research, outlining key steps in the process, and highlighting the significance of mentorship, research involvement, and professional development for a successful medical career and matching into residency

Why is research important for medical students?

In today’s competitive landscape, medical students seeking to match into their desired residency programs benefit significantly from a strong research background. Residency programs often prioritize candidates with research experience and publications, as it demonstrates dedication, intellectual curiosity, and a commitment to advancing the field.

Research experiences can also help medical students expand their professional network, connecting with mentors and fellow researchers who can offer valuable guidance throughout their careers.

By incorporating research into their medical education, students not only enhance their understanding of medicine but also gain an edge in the competitive match ® process and their future careers.

Finally, as the medical field continually evolves, future healthcare professionals need to stay well-informed about cutting-edge developments. There is no better way to really understand and critique research articles other than doing research.

Research Course

How can research help shape your future career in medicine after you finish residency.

In today’s world, medical students who engage in research are better positioned to adapt to emerging challenges and contribute meaningfully to their chosen fields. By participating in research, they cultivate a solid foundation in critical thinking, data analysis, and effective communication – skills that are invaluable for a successful career in academic medicine.

Furthermore, research experiences and publications can provide a competitive edge when looking for an academic job after you finish your residency, as department chairs and hospital administrators recognize the value of a research-oriented mindset in producing well-rounded physicians.

By investing in research, medical students not only empower themselves with knowledge but also help shape a future where medicine is more precise, personalized, and effective in addressing the diverse healthcare needs of society.

Getting Started in Medical Research

Getting started in medical research may seem daunting for many medical students, but the process can be broken down into manageable steps. The first step is to identify your research interests, which can be broadly categorized into clinical research, basic science research, public health and epidemiology, and health policy and administration.

What are the different types of research?

An example of clinical research is a study trying to assess the difference in blood pressure reduction between two medications (A and B) by giving medication A to a group of patients and medication B to another group of patients and measuring the difference in blood pressure between the two groups.

An example of basic science research using animal models is a study investigating the effects of a potential neuroprotective compound on cognitive function in a rodent model of Alzheimer’s disease. In this study a group of rodents would receive the compound and another would not, then the researcher would assess cognitive function in both groups.

Understanding whether your interests lie in clinical or basic science research is crucial for selecting a suitable research project.

For an in-depth comparison of the advantages and drawbacks of clinical and basic science research, take a look at our dedicated blog post on the topic  here .

• Public health and epidemiology : Public health research investigates the broader aspects of health and disease, focusing on population-level factors such as socio-economic determinants, healthcare systems, and environmental influences. Epidemiology, a subset of public health, examines the distribution and determinants of health-related events in populations to inform targeted interventions and policies. Medical students with an interest in population health and disease prevention may find public health and epidemiology research appealing.
• Health policy and administration : Health policy and administration research involves the study of healthcare systems, policies, and management practices, aiming to optimize healthcare delivery and improve patient outcomes. Medical students interested in the intersection of medicine, economics, and policy may be drawn to this area of research.

After identifying your research interests, the next step is to find a mentor who can guide you through the research process. Mentorship is a critical aspect of research, providing support, guidance, and expertise to help you navigate the complexities of your chosen field. Choosing a mentor is also key in helping you match into your dream specialty and program.

What is the value of having a mentor?

Securing a mentor for research endeavors is crucial. A mentor can help you develop your research skills, provide feedback on your project, and offer valuable insights based on their experience. Furthermore, a mentor can connect you with professional networks, enhance your career prospects, and help you secure research grants, fellowships, or a residency spot.

How can you approach potential mentors?

When seeking a mentor, consider their research interests, track record, and reputation within the field. Reach out to potential mentors through email, expressing your interest in their work and highlighting your relevant background and skills. Be respectful, professional, and concise in your communication, and be prepared to discuss your research interests and goals.

How to find research positions in the US

How can you build a strong mentor-mentee relationship.

Foster a strong mentor-mentee relationship by maintaining open communication, setting clear expectations, and being receptive to feedback. Schedule regular meetings to discuss your progress and any challenges you may be facing. Recognize that mentors have their responsibilities and commitments, so respect their time and be proactive in seeking guidance when needed. By identifying your research interests and finding a suitable mentor, you can embark on your journey into the world of medical research. Remember that the process takes time, effort, and dedication, but the rewards – in terms of personal growth, career development, and contributions to the field of medicine – are well worth the investment.

Developing a Research Project

A. formulating a research question.

• A well-crafted research question is the foundation of any successful medical research project. An effective research question should be clear, focused, and concise, addressing a specific problem or knowledge gap in the field. Furthermore, the question should be relevant to current medical challenges and have the potential to contribute to the advancement of knowledge, patient care, or public health.

For example, consider a PICO question in the context of diabetes management: “In adult patients with type 2 diabetes (Population), does a low-carbohydrate diet (Intervention) compared to a low-fat diet (Comparison) lead to a greater reduction in HbA1c levels (Outcome) after 6 months?” In this question, the target population consists of adult patients with type 2 diabetes, the intervention being evaluated is a low-carbohydrate diet, the comparison group is those on a low-fat diet, and the outcome of interest is the change in HbA1c levels after 6 months. By applying the PICO framework, researchers can enhance the clarity and specificity of their research question, ultimately contributing to a more robust and meaningful study.

• Aligning your question with current medical challenges: As a medical student, it’s crucial to align your research question with the pressing issues and knowledge gaps in the field. This approach not only increases the chances of your project being funded or published but also enhances your potential impact on clinical practice, public health, or medical policy. To identify these challenges, attend conferences, do an extensive literature search, and engage in discussions with mentors, peers, and experts in your area of interest.

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B. designing the study.

In contrast, experimental studies involve the manipulation of variables, such as the administration of a new treatment or intervention, with the researcher controlling certain aspects of the study. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are a common type of experimental study. An example of a randomized controlled trial (RCT) could involve assigning patients to receive either medication A or medication B, with the aim of determining which medication leads to more effective management of heart failure symptoms. In this case, researchers actively intervene by allocating patients to treatment A or B, rather than simply observing the outcomes.

• Quantitative vs. qualitative research : Another consideration when designing your study is whether to use quantitative or qualitative research methods. Quantitative research relies on numerical data and statistical analysis to test hypotheses and answer research questions. Examples include clinical trials, surveys, and laboratory experiments. Qualitative research, on the other hand, focuses on exploring and understanding complex phenomena through non-numerical data, such as interviews, observations, and document analysis. Examples include case studies, ethnography, and grounded theory. Both quantitative and qualitative research methods have their strengths and limitations, and the choice depends on the nature of your research question and the type of data needed to answer it. Quantitative research is more common, especially for medical students doing research.

Developing a sound publishable research question is not easy. However, with careful planning, guidance from a mentor, and a commitment to advancing medical knowledge, your research project can make it to a publication and potentially have a lasting impact on patient care, public health, or medical policy.

What are the steps to publish a research project?

• Formulating a robust research question : Develop a strong and focused research question through discussions with mentors and a comprehensive literature review.
• Conducting thorough literature review : Conducting a comprehensive literature review is crucial for understanding the current state of knowledge in your research area, identifying gaps, and establishing the context for your study.
• Data collection and analysis : Choose data collection methods that align with your research question, study design, and ethical considerations. Apply appropriate statistical methods to analyze your data, and consult with experts or mentors for guidance when needed.
• Writing an abstract and manuscript : Craft a clear, concise, and well-structured abstract and manuscript that effectively communicates your research findings.
• Selecting a suitable journal for publication : Choose a journal that aligns with your research topic, audience, and the impact you wish to achieve.
• Presenting at conferences and seminars : Share your research findings at conferences and seminars to network with other researchers, receive feedback, and enhance your professional development.

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Systematic review and meta-analysis live sessions, medical statistics for beginners, how to balance research and medical school.

• Time management strategies: Prioritize tasks, set realistic goals, and create a schedule to effectively balance research and medical school commitments.
• Integrating research into your medical education: Seek opportunities to incorporate research experiences into your curriculum, such as elective courses, summer research programs, or thesis projects.
• Collaborating with peers and interdisciplinary teams: Work with fellow students and professionals from various disciplines to enhance learning, improve research quality, and foster a collaborative research environment.

How to Leverage Research Opportunities for Career Advancement?

• Building a strong research portfolio: Accumulate a diverse range of research experiences, publications, and presentations to showcase your skills and expertise in your field.
• Networking within the research community: Connect with researchers, mentors, and experts at conferences, seminars, and through professional organizations to broaden your network and explore potential collaborations. Connections are extremely important for the Match ® process.
• Pursuing research grants and fellowships: Apply for grants and fellowships to fund your research projects, gain recognition, and enhance your career prospects in both academia and clinical practice.

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Premed Research That Impresses Medical Schools

Here are at least six research areas where you can leverage experiences to stand out on your medical school applications.

Research that Impresses Medical Schools

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When writing about research on applications, describe not only what was done, but also write what was learned through research experiences.

One question premedical students frequently ask is, “Do I need to do research in order to be competitive for medical school ?” 

My short answer: No.

It's not necessary for a medical school applicant to be involved in research , let alone publish a paper, in order to have a strong application. However, research only strengthens one’s application and never hurts it. Research doesn't guarantee acceptance to a medical school, and it's not necessary to gain acceptance.

However, I encourage premed students to conduct research at some point during their premed careers. Being involved in a research project trains premeds to think critically about an unresolved problem.

Research allows us to gain a better understanding of the unknown. Our current medical knowledge is built on clinical research . Drugs we prescribe patients underwent rigorous clinical trial studies, for example, and diagnostic work-up and treatment plans rely on evidence-based medicine based on research data.

Many premed students think that the research they conduct needs to be medical or scientific in nature. Another common misconception is that a strong premed must be involved with basic science research, often called bench research. While many premeds conduct medical-related research, these beliefs are not true. I have mentored amazing premed students with research ranging from Shakespearean play analysis to the creation of medical devices for individuals with disabilities.

6 Types of Medical Research

Here are six common health-related research directions I commonly see among premeds that reflect the breadth of research you can pursue:

• Basic science research
• Clinical research
• Public health research
• Health public policy research
• Narrative medicine research
• Artificial intelligence research

Basic Science Research

Basic science research, often called “bench research,” is the traditional research conducted in a laboratory setting. It tackles our fundamental understanding of biology .

Premeds involved with basic science research often study cells, viruses, bacteria and genetics. This research may also include animal and tissue specimens.

Examples: A premed student interested in cancer biology may study the cellular pathway of a specific tumor suppressor gene. Another premed student may probe how gut bacteria affect protein folding.

Clinical Research

Clinical research is the arm of medical research that tests the safety and effectiveness of diagnostic products, drugs and medical devices. It involves human subjects.

Examples: A premed interested in COVID-19 may conduct clinical trial research on new COVID-19 treatments. Another premed interested in dementia studies whether sleep improves depression among Alzheimer’s patients.

Public Health Research

Public health research studies the health of communities and populations in order to improve the health of the general public. Topics can range from vaccine access, disease prevention and disease transmission to substance abuse, social determinants of health and health education strategies.

Examples: A student interested in health equity may conduct public health research on how health insurance status and geography affect heart attack mortality. A premed excited about environmental science may look at the health impacts of wildfire smoke.

Health Public Policy Research

Premeds engaged in health policy research aim to understand how laws, regulations and policies can influence population health. Premeds may engage in both domestic and global policy research.

Examples: A premed interested in nutrition researches the effectiveness of nutrition programs in the Philippines. Another premed interested in economics studies health insurance markets in America.

Narrative Medicine Research

Narrative medicine research involves gathering stories from patients and their loved ones in order to understand the patient experience. As noted on the Association of American Colleges website , “Those stories can illuminate how a person became ill, the tipping point that compelled them to seek help, and, perhaps most importantly, the social challenges they face in getting better.”

Examples: A premed student interested in how Asians perceive disease can interview Asian patients about their attitudes toward herbal medications in cancer treatments. Another premed student interested in caregiver support can interviews caregivers of patients on prolonged mechanical ventilation to understand families’ decision-making processes.

Artificial Intelligence Research

Medical research utilizing artificial intelligence is increasingly popular, and premeds can analyze a large set of information to find medical discoveries. Premeds who conduct AI research typically have a skillset in computer science.

Examples: A premedical student interested in radiology may use AI to analyze hundreds of chest X-rays to create a program that better detects pneumonias. Another premed student may create and refine an algorithm using EKGs to better pick up abnormal heartbeats.

Remember that research not limited to these six categories. I've also met premeds engaged in journalistic research and business consulting research. As long as you have a research question and a scientific approach to analyze the question, then your pursuit can usually be considered research.

How Research Can Strengthen Medical School Applications

Research can strengthen your medical school application in several ways.

First, when a research project is related to a student’s interests, research involvement shows the application committee that the student is committed to advancing that field .

When writing about your research on applications, not only describe what you did, but also write what you learned through your research experiences. These lessons can include adaptability, analytical thinking and resilience.

Furthermore, you can discuss research through writing stories on secondary applications . For example, a common secondary essay prompt asks you to discuss a time when you failed or faced a challenge. You can write an essay about a challenging time you faced in your research and discuss how you overcame it. This will allow the admissions committee to gain insights into how you critically think through a problem.

Second, medical schools greatly favor independent research, in which students are leading the projects. In independent research, a premed forms a research question and a hypothesis. Then, the student gathers, analyzes and interprets data.

A student conducting independent research is in contrast to a student who helps another researcher with part of a project, or a student who follows protocols such as clinical trials recruitment, without thinking critically through the research design and analysis.

Third, becoming an author on a published paper can be a significant milestone and a valuable boost for a premed’s application. Of course, being a first author on a manuscript is an excellent feat, but it is not necessary for being seen as a strong student.

Other than publishing in academic journals, premedical students can showcase their research through poster presentations and talks. Presenting research conveys that you are excited about sharing your work and that you can explain your research to others, even those outside your field. These are all strong ways to indicate achievement and passion related to research.

The Value of Research for Premeds

Conducting premed research can provide firsthand insight into how much research you want to pursue throughout your career. After conducting research, some students may decide to get an M.D.-Ph.D. joint degree. Other students may come to the realization that their strengths lie elsewhere and conduct minimal research as doctors.

Through research, aspiring physicians will develop important skills that will help them in patient care. They will learn how to read and write research papers and evaluate treatment options by analyzing how robust the evidence is toward a specific treatment.

There are many advantages of engaging in research as a premed, only one of which is improving your medical school application. Since research is the cornerstone of medical advancement, research can help you become a more thoughtful doctor.

Medical School Application Mistakes

Tags: medical school , research , graduate schools , education , students

About Medical School Admissions Doctor

Need a guide through the murky medical school admissions process? Medical School Admissions Doctor offers a roundup of expert and student voices in the field to guide prospective students in their pursuit of a medical education. The blog is currently authored by Dr. Ali Loftizadeh, Dr. Azadeh Salek and Zach Grimmett at Admissions Helpers , a provider of medical school application services; Dr. Renee Marinelli at MedSchoolCoach , a premed and med school admissions consultancy; Dr. Rachel Rizal, co-founder and CEO of the Cracking Med School Admissions consultancy; Dr. Cassie Kosarec at Varsity Tutors , an advertiser with U.S. News & World Report; Dr. Kathleen Franco, a med school emeritus professor and psychiatrist; and Liana Meffert, a fourth-year medical student at the University of Iowa's Carver College of Medicine and a writer for Admissions Helpers. Got a question? Email [email protected] .

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A Realistic Guide to Medical School

Written by UCL students for students

Top 10 Tips: Getting into Research as a Medical Student

Introducing our new series: Top 10 Tips – a simple guide to help you achieve your goals!

In this blog post, Jessica Xie (final year UCL medical student) shares advice on getting into research as a medical student.

Disclaimers: 

• Research is not a mandatory for career progression, nor is it required to demonstrate your interest in medicine. 
• You can dip into and out of research throughout your medical career. Do not feel that you must continue to take on new projects once you have started; saying “no, thank you” to project opportunities will allow you to focus your energy and time on things in life that you are more passionate about for a more rewarding experience.
• Do not take on more work than you are capable of managing. Studying medicine is already a full-time job! It’s physically and mentally draining. Any research that you get involved with is an extracurricular interest.

I decided to write this post because, as a pre-clinical medical student, I thought that research only involved wet lab work (i.e pipetting substances into test tubes). However, upon undertaking an intercalated Bachelor of Science (iBSc) in Primary Health Care, I discovered that there are so many different types of research! And academic medicine became a whole lot more exciting…

Here are my Top 10 Tips on what to do if you’re a little unsure about what research is and how to get into it:

TIP 1: DO YOUR RESEARCH (before getting into research)

There are three questions that I think you should ask yourself:

• What are my research interests?

Examples include a clinical specialty, medical education, public health, global health, technology… the list is endless. Not sure? That’s okay too! The great thing about research is that it allows deeper exploration of an area of Medicine (or an entirely different field) to allow you to see if it interests you.

2.  What type of research project do I want to do?

Research evaluates practice or compares alternative practices to contribute to, lend further support to or fill in a gap in the existing literature.

There are many different types of research – something that I didn’t fully grasp until my iBSc year. There is primary research, which involves data collection, and secondary research, which involves using existing data to conduct further research or draw comparisons between the data (e.g. a meta-analysis of randomised control trials). Studies are either observational (non-interventional) (e.g. case-control, cross-sectional) or interventional (e.g. randomised control trial).

An audit is a way of finding out if current practice is best practice and follows guidelines. It identifies areas of clinical practice could be improved.

Another important thing to consider is: how much time do I have? Developing the skills required to lead a project from writing the study protocol to submitting a manuscript for publication can take months or even years. Whereas, contributing to a pre-planned or existing project by collecting or analysing data is less time-consuming. I’ll explain how you can find such projects below.

3.  What do I want to gain from this experience?

Do you want to gain a specific skill? Mentorship? An overview of academic publishing? Or perhaps to build a research network?

After conducting a qualitative interview study for my iBSc project, I applied for an internship because I wanted to gain quantitative research skills. I ended up leading a cross-sectional questionnaire study that combined my two research interests: medical education and nutrition. I sought mentorship from an experienced statistician, who taught me how to use SPSS statistics to analyse and present the data.

Aside from specific research skills, don’t forget that you will develop valuable transferable skills along the way, including time-management, organisation, communication and academic writing! 

TIP 2: BE PROACTIVE

Clinicians and lecturers are often very happy for medical students to contribute to their research projects. After a particularly interesting lecture/ tutorial, ward round or clinic, ask the tutor or doctors if they have any projects that you could help them with! 

TIP 3: NETWORKING = MAKING YOUR OWN LUCK

Sometimes the key to getting to places is not what you know, but who you know. We can learn a lot from talking to peers and senior colleagues. Attending hospital grand rounds and conferences are a great way to meet people who share common interests with you but different experiences. I once attended a conference in Manchester where I didn’t know anybody. I befriended a GP, who then gave me tips on how to improve my poster presentation. He shared with me his experience of the National institute of Health Research (NIHR) Integrated Academic Training Pathway and motivated me to continue contributing to medical education alongside my studies.

TIP 4: UTILISE SOCIAL MEDIA

Research opportunities, talks and workshops are advertised on social media in abundance. Here are some examples:

Search “medical student research” or “medsoc research” into Facebook and lots of groups and pages will pop up, including UCL MedSoc Research and Academic Medicine (there is a  Research Mentoring Scheme Mentee Scheme), NSAMR – National Student Association of Medical Research and International Opportunities for Medical Students .

Search #MedTwitter and #AcademicTwitter to keep up to date with ground-breaking research. The memes are pretty good too.

Opportunities are harder to come by on LinkedIn, since fewer medical professionals use this platform. However, you can look at peoples’ resumes as a source of inspiration. This is useful to understand the experiences that they have had in order to get to where they are today. You could always reach out to people and companies/ organisations for more information and advice.

TIP 5: JOIN A PRE-PLANNED RESEARCH PROJECT

Researchers advertise research opportunities on websites and via societies and organisations such as https://www.remarxs.com and http://acamedics.org/Default.aspx . 

TIP 6: JOIN A RESEARCH COLLABORATIVE

Research collaboratives are multiprofessional groups that work towards a common research goal. These projects can result in publications and conference presentations. However, more importantly, this is a chance to establish excellent working relationships with like-minded individuals.

Watch out for opportunities posted on Student Training and Research Collaborative .

Interested in academic surgery? Consider joining StarSurg , BURST Urology , Project Cutting Edge or Academic Surgical Collaborative .

Got a thing for global health? Consider joining Polygeia . 

TIP 7: THE iBSc YEAR: A STEPPING STONE INTO RESEARCH

At UCL you will complete an iBSc in third year. This is often students’ first taste of being involved in research and practicing academic writing – it was for me. The first-ever project that I was involved in was coding data for a systematic review. One of the Clinical Teaching Fellows ended the tutorial by asking if any students would be interested in helping with a research project. I didn’t really know much about research at that point and was curious to learn, so I offered to help. Although no outputs were generated from that project, I gained an understanding of how to conduct a systematic review, why the work that I was contributing to was important, and I learnt a thing or two about neonatal conditions. 

TIP 8: VENTURE INTO ACADEMIC PUBLISHING

One of the best ways to get a flavour of research is to become involved in academic publishing. There are several ways in which you could do this:

Become a peer reviewer. This role involves reading manuscripts (papers) that have been submitted to journals and providing feedback and constructive criticism. Most journals will provide you with training or a guide to follow when you write your review. This will help you develop skills in critical appraisal and how to write an academic paper or poster. Here are a few journals which you can apply to:

• https://thebsdj.cardiffuniversitypress.org
• Journal of the National Student Association of Medical Researchjournal.nsamr.ac.uk
• https://cambridgemedicine.org/about  
• https://www.bmj.com/about-bmj/resources-reviewers  

Join a journal editorial board/ committee. This is a great opportunity to gain insight into how a medical journal is run and learn how to get published. The roles available depend on the journal, from Editor-in-Chief to finance and operations and marketing. I am currently undertaking a Social Media Fellowship at BJGP Open, and I came across the opportunity on Twitter! Here are a few examples of positions to apply for:

• Journal of the National Student Association of Medical Researchjournal.nsamr.ac.uk – various positions in journalism, education and website management
• https://nsamr.ac.uk – apply for a position on the executive committee or as a local ambassador
• Student BMJ Clegg Scholarship
• BJGP Open Fellowships

TIP 9: GAIN EXPERIENCE IN QUALITY IMPROVEMENT

UCL Be the Change is a student-led initiative that allows students to lead and contribute to bespoke QIPs. You will develop these skills further when you conduct QIPs as part of your year 6 GP placement and as a foundation year doctor.

TIP 10: CONSIDER BECOMING A STUDENT REPRESENTATIVE

You’ll gain insight into undergraduate medical education as your role will involve gathering students’ feedback on teaching, identifying areas of curriculum that could be improved and working with the faculty and other student representatives to come up with solutions. 

It may not seem like there are any research opportunities up for grabs, but that’s where lateral thinking comes into play: the discussions that you have with your peers and staff could be a source of inspiration for a potential medical education research project. For example, I identified that, although we have lectures in nutrition science and public health nutrition, there was limited clinically-relevant nutrition teaching on the curriculum. I then conducted a learning needs assessment and contributed to developing the novel Nutrition in General Practice Day course in year 5.

Thanks for reaching the end of this post! I hope my Top 10 Tips are useful. Remember, research experience isn’t essential to become a great doctor, but rather an opportunity to explore a topic of interest further.

One thought on “Top 10 Tips: Getting into Research as a Medical Student”

This article was extremely helpful! Alothough, I’m only a junior in high school I have a few questions. First, is there anyway to prepare myself mentally for this challenging road to becoming a doctor? check our PACIFIC best medical college in Rajasthan

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• Open access
• Published: 09 April 2024

Preparing medical students for their educational task as physicians: important, desirable and unexplored territory

• Bas PH ter Brugge 1 ,
• Lena Sophia Fegg 2 &
• Marjo Wijnen-Meijer 2 , 3  

BMC Medical Education volume  24 , Article number:  391 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

149 Accesses

Metrics details

Physicians engage in educational activities in daily practice and take over an important role in providing information and transferring knowledge to patients and medical students. Therefore, it is important to focus on methods to develop teaching skills during medical school. Peer-teaching is a teaching method that is connected to different positive learning outcomes. This study aims to investigate the perspective of medical students regarding teaching as a core competency of physicians and peer-teaching as an opportunity to acquire educational skills. The study also aims to examine to what extent medical students are prepared for their teaching role at medical schools.

This cross-sectional study was performed by an online survey amongst Dutch medical students from all medical schools across all years of study. In total, 2666 medical students filled out the survey. The survey was part of the annual online survey of the Dutch medical advocacy group (DeGeneeskundestudent) amongst all medical students in the fall of 2017. The data were analysed with descriptive statistics and statistical tests (chi-squared-test and binomial test).

The results show that 49% of medical students see teaching as one of the core tasks of a physician. However, only 25% feel well prepared by their medical school for this teaching role. Instead, there are many students who gain experiences and teaching skills on their own outside medical schools. 64% of the respondents agrees that senior medical students can educate junior medical students well.

Conclusions

Implementing peer-teaching in the curricular of medical schools could be an effective teaching method to prepare medical students for their future teaching role. It is important that medical schools focus on enhancing educational quality and designing learning environments for best learning outcomes to better prepare medical students for professional life.

Peer Review reports

The teaching role of physicians is a core competency in the new Dutch Medical Training Framework: “Physicians contribute as academics to the application, spread, translation and proliferation of knowledge in practice through lifelong learning, training others, evaluating evidence and contributing to scientific research” [ 1 ]. Every physician must be able to “create a safe learning environment”, “provide a teaching activity” and “constructively evaluate teaching activities to improve education” [ 1 ]. After all, every physician engages in educational activities in one way or another. It has been shown that a general practitioner spends up to 20% of his consultation time on patient education and a medical specialist up to 10% of his time on supervising residents or medical students [ 2 , 3 ]. Physicians play an important role in providing information and transferring knowledge to patients and medical students. Therefore, parallel to clinical skills the acquisition of educational skills should begin in medical school and continue throughout postgraduate training [ 4 ].

Educational skills are best developed by doing it yourself [ 5 , 6 ]. Peer-teaching, i.e. students teaching other students, is a method for medical students to practice teaching in a controlled environment [ 6 ]. In some medical faculties, both in the Netherlands and other countries, peer-teaching is a regular part of medical school [ 7 , 8 ]. To develop medical students’ teaching skills, peer-teaching programmes, teaching workshops, and community outreach programmes are used [ 9 ]. Many medical schools in the United States offer formal students-as-teachers (SAT) programmes, where students are assigned educational roles such as peer mentors, teaching assistants or contributing to the development of a curriculum design. These programmes benefit the students’ teaching skills, improve their clinical knowledge and communication- and professional skills. Peer-teachers can benefit from peer-teaching experiences in many ways. Teaching offers a chance to identify personal strengths and weaknesses by preparing complex medical knowledge, organizing classes, enhancing public speaking skills, giving- and receiving feedback, working in a team and leading near-peer students [ 6 , 7 , 8 , 10 , 11 ]. By actively participating in their training the medical students’ intrinsic motivation is improved [ 12 , 13 ].

In a recent non-randomized controlled trial by Veloso et al. (2019), it was shown that medical students who taught Basic Life Support skills to community health professionals had a better theoretical and practical performance in Basic Life Support, than medical students who didn’t teach these skills [ 14 ]. Peer-teaching is further supported by studies that have found no difference in medical students’ academic achievements when taught by peer-teachers or faculty staff. While peer-teachers are considered less knowledgeable than faculty staff, students actually feel more at ease asking questions and, due to peer-teachers being regarded as more approachable, they are better understood and guided in comprehending difficult topics [ 11 , 14 , 15 , 16 ]. A final reason for implementation of peer -teaching programmes is the rise in student numbers. Peer-teachers offer a solution to overcome the strained teaching capacity of faculty staff [ 11 , 17 ].

There is evidence that former peer-teaching physicians become more engaged in educational activities. A study by Kloek et al. (2016) indicated that these physicians themselves highly appreciated the teaching internship and are likely committed to building an educational career in their future professional life [ 18 ].

Unfortunately, little is known about the perspective of medical students regarding teaching as a physician and peer-teaching. This perspective is relevant to facilitate the introduction of peer-teaching by medical schools and better prepare medical students for their future teaching role as a physician. It is relevant to assess medical students’ perspective on the teaching role of physicians and their educational activities during medical school. Therefore, this study aims to gain insight into medical students´ opinion on teaching as a physician and peer teaching by answering the following research questions:

To what extent do medical students consider teaching a core competency of a physician?

How and to what extent are medical students prepared for teaching as a physician during medical school?

Study design and participants

This study has a cross-sectional design and is performed by an online survey amongst medical students.

The research population comprised of Dutch medical students from all medical schools across all years of study. In the Netherlands, there are eight medical schools that offer a six-year undergraduate medical training. The undergraduate program is divided in a three year Bachelor, with mostly theoretical education, and a three year Master, with both theoretical educations and clerkships.

The survey started with a general section on gender, university and study-phase. Next, five questions asked for the participants view regarding (the preparation for) teaching as a physician and peer-teaching (see Tables  1 and 2 ). The questions were grounded in literature [ 17 ]. Four questions were answered on a five-point Likert scale (strongly agree- strongly disagree), in which answer option 3 means “neutral” and for the question “older students can teach younger year medical students well” also “no experience”. The final question was a binary question (yes/no).

The survey was part of the annual online survey of the Dutch medical advocacy group (DeGeneeskundestudent) amongst all medical students in the fall of 2017. Participants voluntarily filled out the questionnaire and informed consent was given for anonymous use of the data.

Data analysis

Before data-analysis we excluded the following participants. Participants with an abbreviated medical study were excluded because they had already finished a wide range of different previous bachelor-studies. Participants who had not filled out the general section were excluded as well. The results were analysed with SPSS version 25. The general section was analysed with descriptive statistics. The study population was compared with available national data on medical students regarding gender, study-phase and university [ 19 , 20 ]. The questions on the participants view answered on a Likert scale were dichotomised to agree (strongly agree-agree) and disagree (strongly disagree-disagree). In the analysis, we left out the responses to category 3 to get an impression of students’ positive or negative attitude towards peer-teaching and, regarding question 2, to avoid bias from people who have no experience with it giving an opinion. The results were analysed with descriptive statistics. The participants view according to different gender, study-phase or university was analysed with a chi-squared-test or binomial test. The binary question on the participants view was analysed with descriptive statistics. The participants view according to different gender, study-phase or university was analysed with a chi-squared-test. The outcome of all tests was significant if p  < 0.05.

Respondents´ characteristics

The respondents´ characteristics are shown in Table  3 . A total of 2666 medical students filled out the survey. The percentage of male respondents was lower than the national average, 23% versus 34%, as well as the percentage of master students, 47% versus 53%. The percentage of respondents from the University of Amsterdam (UvA), Vrije Universiteit (VU) and Rotterdam was slightly lower than the national average, while the percentage of respondents from Groningen, Leiden and Nijmegen was higher than the national average. The distribution of respondents across years of study is similar to the distribution in the overall population.

View on teaching as a physician and peer-teaching

The results on teaching as a physician and peer-teaching are shown in Tables  1 and 2 . Significant results are highlighted in the paragraph below.

Teaching as a physician

49% of the respondents agrees that teaching is a core responsibility of a physician, while 22% of the respondents disagrees. Male respondents agree more often than female respondents, 58% versus 47%, as well as respondents in the master phase than respondents in the bachelor phase, 64% versus 35%. Agreement of respondents from different universities was between 43% and 56%.

• Peer-teaching

64% of the respondents agrees that senior medical students can educate junior medical students well, while 13% of the respondents disagrees. Respondents in the master phase disagree more often than respondents in the bachelor phase, 13% versus 11%. Agreement of respondents from different universities was between 53% and 75%.

View on preparation for teaching as a physician

The results on preparation for teaching as a physician by the formal education and respondents’ own experience are shown in Tables  1 and 2 . Table  4 shows the respondents own experience with teaching. Significant results are highlighted in the paragraph below.

Formal education

27% of the respondents agrees that the medical education prepares them well for teaching as a physician, while 39% disagrees. Male respondents agree more often than female respondents, 36% versus 24%. Respondents in the master phase disagree more often than respondents in the bachelor phase, 46% versus 33%. Agreement of respondents from different universities was between 19% and 33%.

Own experience

48% of the respondents agrees that their own experience with teaching prepares them well for teaching as a physician, while 22% disagrees. Male respondents agree more often than female respondents, 62% versus 44%. Respondents in the master phase agree more often than respondents in the bachelor phase, 56% versus 40%. Agreement of respondents from different universities was between 39% and 56%.

52% of the respondents have teaching experience. Male respondents more often have experience than female respondents, 59% versus 51%, as well as respondents in the master phase than the bachelor phase, 63% versus 42%. The percentage of respondents from different universities with teaching experience varies between 44% and 60%.

Of the respondents with teaching experience, 13% have experience as peer-teacher, 11% as part of the formal education and 37% outside the formal education. Male respondents have more experience than female respondents with teaching outside the formal education, 42% versus 36%, and as peer-teacher, 16% versus 12%. Respondents in the master phase have more experience in all manners of teaching than respondents in the bachelor phase. The percentage of respondents from different universities with teaching experience varies, as peer-teacher (4 − 17%), as part of the curriculum (6 − 21%) and outside the formal education (33-45%).

Half of medical students feel that teaching is one of the core tasks of a physician. Unfortunately, only 25% feel well prepared by their medical school for this teaching role. This is in line with the literature that students would benefit from more preparation in this area [ 21 , 22 ]. It is striking that students who are more advanced in their studies feel less prepared than students who are at the beginning of medical school. The explanation for this may be that older students have more insight into the complexity of the teaching task because they have more experience with the physicians who teach or have had some experience of this themselves. It is contradictory that on the one hand students are aware of their later teaching role and responsibility but on the other hand do not feel adequately prepared for this role. A core task of physicians is to provide knowledge, experiences and skills to different learning groups, e.g. to medical students, patients and other professionals and should therefore be a relevant part of medical education programs.

Almost half of the students feel well prepared for their later teaching role from their own experience. They look for teaching opportunities themselves in anatomy or skills courses or as a secondary job [ 23 ]. They agree that their own experience with teaching prepares them well for teaching as a physician. This finding highlights the importance of providing appropriate learning opportunities during medical education. Students engaging as peer-teachers have the chance to gain extracurricular experiences that are relevant not only for professional practice but also to strengthen soft skills and interdisciplinary competencies. Teaching experiences are beneficial in many ways, increase teaching skills, intensify knowledge, increase organizational and communication skills and enhance leading and speaking skills that are relevant for daily practice [ 6 , 7 , 8 , 10 , 11 , 24 ].

A large majority of medical students think that older students are good at teaching younger ones. At some universities, students have a more positive image of peer-teaching than at others. It is useful to find out whether these faculties use peer-teaching more as a teaching method.

Thus, medical students’ own views on peer-teaching do not seem to be an impediment to using peer-teaching to learn the role of a teacher. This is also in line with the literature on peer-teaching showing different advantages of learning from other students [ 11 , 25 ]. First, peer-teachers are closer to the student in experience. Therefore, they can better understand what the students find difficult and they also understand the knowledge level of the students better, compared to, for example, medical specialists [ 15 ]. In addition, peer-teachers can create a safe educational climate in which mistakes are allowed and questions can be asked, because peer-teacher are perceived as less threatening [ 15 ]. Peer-teachers and students both can profit from peer-teaching settings.

The use of students as teachers can improve teaching capacities and is also connected to economic aspects. To secure high standards in the quality of education in medical schools, peer-teaching programs should be accompanied by training and supervision [ 11 , 17 ].

A strength of this research project is that it is a cross-section of all Dutch universities and all study years. Therefore, the results give a good picture of the opinion of Dutch medical students. Furthermore, the study focuses on the perspective of medical students. This perspective can be beneficial for gaining insights into medical students’ opinions and for designing adequate learning environments in medical schools. A limitation is that due to the nature of the survey, questionnaires with multiple choice questions, it only provides a global picture. Furthermore, male and bachelor students participated significantly less, which may distort the results. Future research can focus on a comparison between universities with and without formal education in the study program in the area of teaching skills. Furthermore, follow-up research should focus on assessing gender differences. Interviews or focus groups can also provide insight into the motivation and argumentation of the students to gain deeper insights into students’ perceptions. Additionally, further research should also include medical teachers, professionals at medical schools, experts and physicians to gain multiple perspectives. It is also important to focus on the effectiveness of peer-teaching programs in comparison to other learning methods, particularly from a long-term perspective. As teaching skills are a core competence of physicians for daily practice, assessing learning opportunities and methods for physicians in the context of continuing education should also be taken into account.

Many medical students see teaching as a core task of physicians and are aware of their later teaching role. However, a large proportion of them, especially the students in the last phase of their studies, feel that their medical school program has not adequately prepared them for this role. Instead, there are many students who gain experiences and teaching skills on their own initiative outside medical schools. Preparing medical students for their educational tasks and supporting them in the acquisition of teaching skills should be an essential part of their education. The majority of medical students think that senior students can educate junior medical students well. Therefore, implementing peer-teaching in the curricular of medical schools could be an effective teaching method for learning success. In a broader context, preparing medical students for their teaching role can be beneficial for the patient-medicine relationship and the provision of knowledge and health competency for patients. This study and the literature show that peer teaching, combined with good supervision and feedback, is a good way to prepare medical students for the future teaching role. It is important that medical schools focus on enhancing educational quality and designing beneficial and positive learning environments for best learning outcomes to better prepare medical students for professional life.

Data availability

The datasets generated and/or analysed during the current study are not publicly available due to data protection guidelines of the institution but are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Abbreviations

students-as-teachers

Universiteit van Amsterdam

Vrije Universiteit

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ter Brugge, B.P., Fegg, L.S. & Wijnen-Meijer, M. Preparing medical students for their educational task as physicians: important, desirable and unexplored territory. BMC Med Educ 24 , 391 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-024-05328-y

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Research Article

Did Covid-19 make things worse? The pandemic as a push factor stimulating the emigration intentions of junior doctors from Poland: A mixed methods study

Contributed equally to this work with: Dominika Pszczółkowska, Sara Bojarczuk, Maciej Duszczyk, Kamil Matuszczyk, Emilia Szyszkowska

Roles Conceptualization, Methodology, Project administration, Writing – review & editing

* E-mail: [email protected]

Affiliations Centre of Migration Research, University of Warsaw, Warszawa, Poland, Faculty of Political Science and International Studies, University of Warsaw, Warszawa, Poland

Roles Data curation, Formal analysis, Writing – original draft

Affiliation Centre of Migration Research, University of Warsaw, Warszawa, Poland

Roles Conceptualization, Funding acquisition, Investigation, Methodology, Supervision

Roles Conceptualization, Investigation, Writing – original draft

Roles Investigation, Writing – original draft

Affiliation Centre of Migration Research, University of Warsaw and Warsaw School of Economics, Warszawa, Poland

• Dominika Pszczółkowska, 
• Sara Bojarczuk, 
• Maciej Duszczyk, 
• Kamil Matuszczyk, 
• Emilia Szyszkowska

• Published: April 16, 2024
• https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0301757
• Peer Review
• Reader Comments

Covid-19 has challenged health systems around the world and increased the global competition for medical professionals. This article investigates if the pandemic and its management became an important push factor influencing the migration intentions of medical students and junior doctors and how this factor compared in importance to others. A mixed methods study–a survey and in-depth interviews–was conducted with final-year students at public medical universities in Poland, a country already suffering from a significant emigration of medical staff. The research demonstrated that the difficulties of the Polish healthcare system in dealing with Covid-19 were a factor that slightly positively influenced the emigration intentions of medical students and junior doctors. Nevertheless, the pandemic’s influence was not decisive. Factors such as the socio-political situation in Poland (.440**) (including hate speech directed at doctors by politicians and patients), the participants’ family situation (.397**), healthcare system organization (.376**), or the opportunity of pursuing a planned career path (.368**) proved more influential. Salary is still important but did not turn out to be among the decisive factors. This allows us to conclude that migration decisions of medical students have a very well-established basis that does not fundamentally change even under the influence of such dramatic situations as the pandemic. This conclusion has important implications for healthcare management and the ongoing discussion in migration studies on the evolution of push and pull factors in place and time.

Citation: Pszczółkowska D, Bojarczuk S, Duszczyk M, Matuszczyk K, Szyszkowska E (2024) Did Covid-19 make things worse? The pandemic as a push factor stimulating the emigration intentions of junior doctors from Poland: A mixed methods study. PLoS ONE 19(4): e0301757. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0301757

Editor: Jolanta Maj, Wrocław University of Science and Technology, POLAND

Received: March 31, 2023; Accepted: March 21, 2024; Published: April 16, 2024

Copyright: © 2024 Pszczółkowska et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Data Availability: Quantitative data is available in a repository at https://osf.io/vkbnx/ Qualitative data will not be made available because due to the large amount of personal data of the respondents they cannot be fully anonymised.

Funding: This paper was written as part of the research project, “Migration plans of medical students and their implementation. Will they really leave?”, financed by the National Science Centre of Poland, within the OPUS programme (contract no: UMO-2020/39/B/HS5/00464). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Introduction

Healthcare workers are one of the most geographically mobile professional groups, who also migrate between developed countries [ 1 – 4 ]. Europe’s ageing population creates new opportunities for doctors’ employment in countries with better prospects and standards of living, facilitated by the extensive European Union professional qualification recognition system. The World Health Organization estimates that there will be a global shortage of around 15 million workers in the healthcare sector by 2030 [ 5 ], which will increase the competition for medical professionals. While much is known about the factors and circumstances prompting healthcare workers to migrate, there is a paucity of knowledge about the impact of emergencies, including pandemic-driven health crises, on intentions to leave or stay in a particular country.

The Covid-19 pandemic has challenged health systems around the world, revealing shortages of employees and proving how dependent OECD countries are on migrant workers [ 6 ]. To attract skilled professionals, who were not eager to migrate during the initial months of the pandemic [ 7 ], many high-income countries facilitated access to healthcare employment for foreign-trained personnel, for example by reducing the timeframes for recognition of professional qualifications or lowering the required level of language proficiency [ 5 , 8 , 9 ]. Healthcare workers were found to have been attracted by countries providing better working conditions and which had proven resilient during the pandemic [ 10 ].

As Poland has been facing a systemic shortage of medical staff for many years, the outflow of doctors poses a major challenge for safeguarding the proper functioning of the healthcare system. The number of doctors per 1,000 citizens (3.4), as well as the number of medical graduates in Poland, are below the average for both the EU and OECD countries [ 11 ]. In most countries, the number of practising doctors has increased over the last two decades, while in Poland this increase was minor [ 12 ]. Also, since EU accession in 2004, the number of Polish and other Central European medical graduates seeking to pursue careers abroad has increased [ 13 – 15 ]. The results of two surveys conducted among medical students in 2008 and 2011 indicated a continuous interest in emigration due to a lack of opportunities for professional development in Poland, and the intention to search for knowledge, better salaries, and the prestige of the profession outside of Poland [ 16 – 18 ]. Recently, the migration rate of doctors only to other EU countries was estimated at 7% [ 19 ], while the inflow of foreign-born doctors until the outbreak of war in Ukraine was marginal [ 20 ].

The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed the weaknesses of the Polish healthcare system, with the country recording one of the highest rates of excess deaths per million among OECD countries [ 12 ]. Studies demonstrate the system’s shortcomings in response to the challenges of the pandemic [ 21 , 22 ] and medical staff’s dissatisfaction with the level of funding and salaries [ 23 ]. In such circumstances, it is crucial to examine the extent to which the pandemic was significant for pushing doctors out of Poland. The objectives of this study are thus to estimate the prevalence of migration intentions of final year medical students, as well as to examine the factors influencing such intentions—both sudden, represented by the Covid-19 pandemic, and steady, such as economic and socio-political factors.

The research is based on a mixed methods design consisting of two components: an online survey among medical students (several months before their graduation) and in-depth interviews conducted with them a few months later, when they were already junior doctors. We make an original contribution to the growing body of research on the factors and circumstances that shape the mobility trajectories of health professionals [ 4 ]. Our findings advance the discussion on the importance of the impact of extraordinary events or circumstances (such as a pandemic) on the migration decisions of high-skilled personnel. From an empirical point of view, we enrich the discussion on the career paths of junior doctors in sending countries, especially in the Central and Eastern European region [ 24 , 25 ].

The article is structured as follows: we begin by presenting our theoretical framework and reviewing the literature on how the Covid-19 pandemic acted as a push-pull factor in the migration of health professionals around the world. We then focus on factors that push junior doctors out of Poland. Based on the available empirical evidence, we formulate two hypotheses. Following the outline of a mixed methods approach, we discuss the results of two logistic regression models, enriched by qualitative analysis, which lead to our conclusions.

In this article, we use the notion of ‘migration intentions’ as a concept referring to migrations not necessarily already carried out but considered as a serious option. The term is widely used in the literature on the migration of doctors [ 26 – 28 ]. We refer to ‘medical students’ who have not yet graduated, and to ‘junior doctors’, meaning all those who have graduated but have not completed their specialisation and reached consultant or general practitioner level [ 29 ].

Theoretical background: The push–pull approach

Theoretically, the study is based on the classical approach to explaining decision-making processes through an analysis of push and pull factors, as proposed by Everett S. Lee [ 30 ], and extensively developed by later authors [ 31 – 34 ]. It assumes that decisions to migrate are free and boundedly rational, based on criteria which push a given person out from the state of origin and pull them to the receiving state. Also important are intervening factors, such as geographical distance and legal regulations (in the case of doctors, this concerns especially the recognition of professional qualifications), and personal factors. The value ascribed by an individual to a material or non-material good (such as a house, proximity of an airport, or appropriate schools for the children), may depend on their demographic features, education, or individual perception. Both positive and negative factors must be considered in the origin and the potential destination [ 35 , 36 ]. Akl et al. [ 37 ], in their study of Lebanese medical professionals, propose the notions of ‘retain’ factors at the origin, and ‘repel’ factors at the destination, in addition to pull and push factors. Carling and Bivand Erdal [ 38 ] have also reverted to the notions of ‘push/retain’ on one side and ‘pull/repel’ on the other.

A review of the recent literature (up to 2023) on factors influencing doctors’ migration intentions indicated the desire for a better quality of life, career and training opportunities, as well as financial gain as the strongest factors influencing such decisions [ 27 ]. For most graduates, factors such as the level of salaries, work conditions, possibilities of professional development, employment security and stability, as well as linguistic and other cultural factors are frequent push or pull factors [ 39 ]. Additional factors may include equipment at the workplace, organization of the healthcare system, working hours, work atmosphere, stress levels or treatment, the esteem for doctors in a given country or employment conditions [ 14 , 40 ]. In the case of highly skilled workers, such as doctors and nurses, the determinants of their decisions and aspirations to migrate are significantly different from other categories of mobile workers. Research among healthcare workers in Romania reveals a surprising relationship, according to which the higher the satisfaction with earnings in the country of origin, the greater the temptation to work in another country [ 41 ].

‘Retain’ factors in origin may include the possibility of gaining additional wages in private healthcare, possibilities of professional advancement and prestige (which are sometimes easier to achieve in one’s country of origin), or factors related to personal lives, such as the presence of family. ‘Repel’ factors may be linked with the ‘glass ceiling’, or difficulty of advancing professionally due to racial discrimination or linguistic difficulties. Highly skilled migrants, including medical staff, also take into account the degree of political stability in a country or opportunities for self-development [ 2 ]. In addition, findings from Polish research suggest that younger doctors (i.e., residents) are more likely to leave than specialist doctors [ 26 ]. In light of the Covid-19 pandemic, it is important to consider the issue of how sudden factors, such as a health emergency, war, or natural catastrophe influence migration intentions, and the relative importance of factors taken into consideration.

The pandemic as a push factor in healthcare workers’ migration

While numerous studies provide evidence of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on mobility and migration [ 42 ], in particular the deterioration of the situation of migrant workers and the emergence of border crossing barriers [ 43 , 44 ], little is still known about how this global health crisis influenced future migration intentions. According to the Eurobarometer survey [ 45 ], the Covid-19 pandemic had a minimal impact on Europeans’ mobility plans. Only 2% of respondents postponed their plans of working abroad, 3% were less convinced of the idea of going abroad, and a further 2% abandoned their plans. Recent research in Hong Kong shows that the severity of a pandemic in a country (manifested by high levels of mortality and morbidity) had a positive effect on increasing the intentions to migrate abroad, especially among young, well-educated people [ 46 ].

Healthcare workers are a special case because the Covid-19 pandemic has underscored their key role in public health services and affected their mobility in particular ways. Although much has been published on the experience of healthcare professionals working in hospitals during the pandemic [ 47 – 50 ], the issue of the impact of the pandemic on doctors’ migration decisions is inconclusive. To date, the literature suggests—on the one hand—that medical staff are more likely to postpone migration in a pandemic, in part due to the health risks linked with travelling and undertaking work in a new environment in such circumstances [ 51 ], but on the other hand that state policies aiming to attract medical staff have a significant impact on migration levels. Many such policies were implemented in reaction to the pandemic [ 52 ]. In studies suggesting an increase of the migration potential of healthcare workers, the pandemic was not the main motive of this increase, but rather a factor exposing weak healthcare systems [ 53 , 54 ] and strengthening previous migration intentions caused by other, stronger, push factors [ 55 – 57 ]. It is noteworthy that, irrespective of the doctors’ country of origin, the main drivers of emigration during the pandemic were the belief in better career opportunities, higher quality equipment and access to medical facilities, followed by factors related to employment conditions like salary, working hours, type of contract [ 19 , 55 , 58 ]. For medical students, the deterioration of the quality of education (i.e., online courses) and the desire for professional development abroad were important.

In Poland, studies and official data suggest that the impact of the pandemic on the migration potential of doctors may have been strong, albeit delayed. Data show an initial decline in the number of issued certificates of qualifications (which are needed to work abroad). This was likely due to mobility restrictions [ 59 ]. By contrast, since the beginning of 2022, the Supreme Chamber of Doctors has been warning of an unprecedentedly high number of certificate applications, which suggests a growing tendency to emigrate [ 60 ]. The latest figures show that almost 1,000 doctors were issued the certificates in 2022, which was more than in previous years [ 61 ]. In a study of nearly 3,000 active healthcare workers, only one in three respondents stated that the pandemic had no direct impact on their plans related to their profession (34%), while one in ten respondents was thinking of leaving their job (12%) or moving abroad (12%) [ 62 ].

Hypotheses and methods

Hypotheses..

Despite Poland transforming rapidly from a country of emigration into a country of immigration (which is also influenced by the arrival of war refugees from Ukraine) [ 63 ], in the case of medical personnel, as we indicated above, there are still far more people emigrating from Poland than arriving.

At the same time, doctors’ working conditions and quality of life deteriorated during the pandemic. Studies around the world have shown that caring for patients with Covid-19 not only led to an increase in infections among frontline healthcare workers but also affected their mental health, causing anxiety, depression and job burnout [ 47 – 50 , 64 – 66 ]. In Poland, deaths of more than 400 healthcare workers due to the pandemic were reported by mid-2021 [ 67 ]. In a survey of medical students, more than 80% of respondents indicated that the public’s dislike and distrust of doctors increased significantly during the pandemic [ 68 ]. Some said this lowered their enthusiasm for a medical career in Poland [ 68 ]. Also, a growing problem of hate speech against doctors has been noted, as well as physical attacks or problems involving family members of medical personnel (e.g., refusal to admit a doctor’s child to kindergarten) [ 62 , 69 ]. Therefore, in our study, we hypothesize that:

• H1 : The Covid-19 pandemic has increased the migration intentions of medical students and junior doctors in Poland .

Given that r esearch results from other countries suggested that the pandemic contributed to the migration potential of doctors but was of secondary importance, our second hypothesis concerns the extent to which other, more long-term push factors, related to life and work in Poland, contribute to migration intentions:

• H2 : Long-term factors related to the quality of work and life in Poland are more important for medical students and junior doctors considering emigration than the pandemic .

Mixed methods design.

To gain a more comprehensive insight into the migration motives of medical students and junior doctors, the research is based on a mixed methods design and consists of two components complementing each other: an online survey among Polish medical students in their last year of studies (n = 205) and in-depth semi-structured interviews (n = 9), conducted several months later, when the respondents were already junior doctors, which were used to deepen the understanding of individuals’ views and personal experiences, which cannot be explored with a questionnaire alone [ 70 ].

The survey was run in February 2022 at four large Polish medical universities: in Warsaw, Kraków, Gdańsk, and Białystok. These universities were selected for the study because they are public (i.e., offer studies free of charge) and gather the largest numbers of medical students in Poland. Also, thanks to their international certificates, graduation from these universities guarantees eligibility to work abroad. Prior to its release, the survey was consulted with the authorities of the universities and their student councils. To recruit participants, the survey link was sent by e-mail to 6th-year students by their universities. The survey was also advertised through the student councils’ social media but these posts did not include the survey link to avoid obtaining responses from other people. The link led to a questionnaire on a University of Warsaw (UW) server, where the UW’s Ankieter survey software was used, which guaranteed the security of the survey data.

The questionnaire consisted of 45 closed and open-ended questions. Respondents first had to express consent to participate. The first three questions were of a filtering nature. Respondents’ demographic data was collected through 5 questions at the end. The survey was scheduled to take approximately 15–20 minutes.

The response rate was 15% (at the time of the questionnaire, 1366 students were enrolled in the 6th year of the Polish-language medical degrees in the four schools included). Among 205 questionnaires completed by Polish students (who were also born in Poland), 125 were completed by women and 80 by men, which reflects the gender balance among medical students and doctors in Poland. The responses were distributed as follows among the participating universities: Collegium Medicum Jagiellonian University in Cracow—CMUJ (34 out of 232 students enrolled); Warsaw Medical University—WUM (39 out of 643 students enrolled; Medical University in Gdansk—GUMED (84 out of 276 students enrolled); Medical University in Bialystok—UMB (48 out of 215 students).

Nearly 57% of respondents were single and 97% did not have children. At the end of the questionnaire, respondents were asked if they could be contacted directly by the researchers in the future for an in-depth interview and subsequent stages of the survey. Those who chose to continue their participation (175 out of 205 respondents) provided e-mail addresses which could be used after graduation.

Nearly a year after the survey, between December 2022 and February 2023, selected respondents were interviewed and asked to reflect on the survey’s key findings and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on doctors’ migration plans. Respondents for the interviews were drawn from the list of persons who had provided e-mail addresses, with participants from each University listed in turn to ensure the participation of students from all schools, and the first participant drawn randomly from among the first nine. Interview requests were sent to every tenth survey respondent who had provided an e-mail address, and if the person did not respond to two e-mails, the following person on the list was recruited. As a result of this procedure, interview requests were sent out to 32 people. The requests resulted in 9 in-depth interviews with 6 men and 3 women, which were all conducted remotely (via Skype or ZOOM) and lasted, on average, 30 minutes. The gender balance of the respondents did not reflect the balance in the survey or among the student body. However, the responses in the survey did not differ significantly depending on gender. One participant had emigrated between the time of the survey and the interview, the others were working in the Polish public healthcare system. Consent for participation was obtained in writing before the interviews, and consent for recording at the beginning of the interview. The interviews were transcribed and anonymized. The research project has obtained the approval of the Research Ethics Committee of the Centre of Migration Research (nr CMR/EC/1/2022).

Analysis & research findings.

To assess the attitudes towards the probability of going abroad, an 11-point Likert scale was employed ( Fig 1 ).

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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0301757.g001

Dependent variable.

The survey question regarding migration intentions was: “ What is the probability of you going abroad to work ? ” . The 11-point Likert scale variable was split and recoded into dummy variable mig1 (higher migration intentions) to account for those whose probability of going abroad was 6 and above on the Likert scale.

Independent variable.

The following independent variables were identified and included in the analysis:

• The answers to the question: “How did the experience of the Covid-19 pandemic affect the probability of emigration among Polish medical students ? ” .
• The second set of independent variables explored the question “To what degree do the following factors push you to leave Poland ? ” .

These are further referred to as push factors . They included the socio-political situation in Poland, housing situation, family situation, earnings, the organization of the public healthcare system in Poland, work conditions, career path, and working hours. The respondents could judge the influence of each of the above, including the influence of Covid-19, on a 5-point Likert scale from 1 - “not at all” to 5 - “to a large degree”, with positive answers recoded into dummy variable 1. Kendall’s tau-b correlation and logistic regression were used to test the associations between migration intentions and selected push factors.

The next analytical step presents the results of Kendall’s tau-b correlation between the push factors and the perception of the influence of the Covid-19 experience as a contributing factor for the migration decisions of medical students. Based on selected push factors (determined by the results of Kendall’s correlation) and the Covid-19 experience, the first logistic regression model was estimated. The 2nd model was further controlled for gender.

The second analytical component of this study is the results of the qualitative inquiry that were used to elaborate on the meaning of the results of the quantitative analysis. Participants’ accounts addressed the experience of the Covid-19 pandemic, and how it affected their and their colleagues’ migration plans. They also reflected and elaborated on other push factors identified in the estimated models.

The Covid-19 experience.

Although most participants did not work in Covid wards, their indirect experiences shaped their perception and decision to remain in Poland or undertake migration. 63.5% agreed that the Covid-19 experience had significantly increased or increased the potential for medical students’ migration decisions. 23% stated that the Covid-19 experience had no effect on the overall decisions to leave, and the remaining 13.5% believed that the pandemic experience decreased medical students’ potential consideration of migration.

Table 1 presents the result of Kendall’s rank correlation between the variable that in the participants’ opinion the Covid experience increased the probability of emigration among medical students and the dependent variable of those who have higher migration intentions (mig1—those above the middle cut-off point: 0–5 and 6–10). The correlation indicates a positive moderate correlation between the two variables and the correlation coefficient is significant at the 5% level or lower.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0301757.t001

Push factors.

Participants could select various push factors influencing their migration intentions. Among them, especially the socio-political situation in Poland encouraged them to pursue migration plans. Additionally, factors related to work circumstances (working hours, work conditions, healthcare organization, followed by earnings) proved to be the most significant push factors ( Fig 2 ).

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0301757.g002

Table 2 assesses the correlation between push factors and the group of higher migration intentions (Mig1). The push factors were grouped into two categories: related to medics’ work circumstances and related to general circumstances. Regarding the general circumstances, both the socio-political situation and family situation have a positive moderate correlation and hold the strongest correlation among all the push factors included. The group of indicators related to work circumstances–career path and healthcare system organization–were relatively strongly correlated among other factors listed below.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0301757.t002

Despite the overall belief that the Covid-19 experience has increased medical students’ migration intentions, its effect weakens when confronted with other push factors. It, therefore, begs the fundamental question of whether the migration intentions of future doctors were driven by Covid-19, or was the pandemic experience only partly responsible for such decisions and the determinants of what encourages doctors to migrate are much more deeply embedded in the socio-political or work-related context in Poland.

The Covid-19 pandemic and other push factors influencing emigration.

Logistic regression has further looked into the probability of selected push factors and general perception of the Covid-19 experience being likely to determine the migration plans. In line with previous results, the indicators related to the general circumstances of living in Poland remain much stronger than the Covid-19 experience. Similarly, some work-related factors also continue to have a higher probability of being an important push factor than the Covid-19 experience alone. Therefore, although Covid-19 alone seemed to strongly influence the intentions of migration among participants, when considered together with other push factors–its effect weakens. Further, controlling for gender, no statistically significant results have been found ( Table 3 ).

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0301757.t003

Moreover, the most unequivocal answer in the whole survey concerned the statement “ Hate speech directed at doctors in Poland significantly increases their will to emigrate ”, with which respondents were asked to agree or disagree on a 5-point Likert scale. 93% agreed or strongly agreed with this statement. They further elaborated on this issue in the qualitative interviews, as discussed below.

Covid-19 vs. other factors—qualitative analysis.

The following section provides the outcome of the analysis based on qualitative interviews with selected survey participants (conducted several months after graduation, when most of the respondents were already junior doctors working in Polish hospitals), and the content of the open-ended questions in the survey. The results provide insight into how the pandemic and its management influenced the migration intentions of junior doctors and allow us to understand how this factor is related to other push factors.

In line with the results of the quantitative research above, the analysis of the qualitative interviews led us to the conclusion that the Covid-19 pandemic was not the main factor influencing migration intentions. However, for many respondents, it brought to light important push factors related to the organisation of the healthcare sector in Poland or the political atmosphere around doctors’ work. Broadly speaking, the most important push factors mentioned as encouraging young doctors to leave Poland were of two categories—those related to work and those related to broader issues, not specific to doctors.

Young doctors were generally critical of the functioning of the healthcare system and particular hospitals. As one respondent summed up:

It is difficult to work in Polish hospitals because of overlapping competencies , poor use of equipment , and a lack of coordination between specialists . Often , it is about small things that significantly spoil the organization of work . This wastes a lot of time . [Graduate 2, male]

Many respondents underlined that the level of investment in healthcare was too low. This influenced work conditions for doctors in terms of the buildings, equipment, number of medical tests, rehabilitation and other services they could prescribe to patients.

The buildings and equipment are relics from the times when they were built . To take the patient for an ultrasound , you have to wheel him outside , into the cold , and to another pavilion . [Graduate 3, male]

Interestingly, this overall level of investment and mismanagement of the healthcare sector seemed to be more significant than low wages, which have often been reported in Polish media as a problem and a cause of emigration. The opinions of medical students and junior doctors concerning earnings in Poland were divided, with some complaining about their inadequate level but others pointing out that compared to the costs of living, salaries are actually at similar levels as in Western Europe. On the other hand, they perceived investments into their training as inadequate, with problems ranging from an insufficient number of places in various specialisations and lack of funding for costly specialist courses to insufficient equipment or insufficient time senior colleagues could devote to their training due to staff shortages.

Many of the above-mentioned problems were, in the eyes of the respondents, exacerbated during the Covid-19 pandemic.

I would like to say that we came out of it , but looking at hard data and the fact that Poland had the highest increase in deaths caused by the pandemic among EU countries , that the percentage of vaccinations is not satisfactory , it is somehow hard to say that we managed well . [Graduate 3, male]

The pandemic was thus not seen as a decisive factor which influenced junior doctors’ intentions to migrate but as a factor forcefully demonstrating existing problems.

I wouldn’t link it directly with Covid ( … ) . Some people already plan to leave from the beginning of their studies . They then postpone these plans until those clinical years . It isn’t linked with Covid , it was rather linked to other life plans . [Graduate 1, female] From what I know from friends who worked in the Covid ward , they saw what life was like after university , what work was like ( … ) The decision to either leave or not leave was made beforehand and only reinforced . I doubt that the pandemic would have influenced such decisions . [Graduate 8, male]

What is more, many respondents were discouraged by the political atmosphere around their work. Given that access to care was uneven, the anti-vaccination movement was quite strong, and the number of political scandals that surfaced during the pandemic was high, many respondents felt like their front-line jobs were not being taken seriously. At the same time, they believed that politicians and patients often blamed them for problems that were the result of the malfunctioning of the system. In interviews and open-ended questions of the survey, many pointed to the lack of societal understanding of doctors’ work and mistrust, partly created by the rhetoric of politicians.

People’s attitudes , how society treats doctors… The lack of understanding of our work , and the fact that we are not the ones who are responsible for how this system works . Besides , working hours and the socio-political situation are the most encouraging reasons for people to leave . [questionnaire, open-ended question] [Covid-19] didn’t affect my migration plans , but it affected how I was perceived in the family , as a doctor . They saw me as part of a bigger big pharma conspiracy or so… some people really disappointed me . Despite my trying to explain to them , my family really disappointed me . [Graduate 2, male]

Hate speech from politicians, patients and on the internet was perceived as a particularly acute social problem.

In the era of the pandemic , everyone has heard opinions about doctors , whether from politicians or other activists , that doctors don’t want to work , that they are running away and so on . I think it may not even be that damaging to doctors , but it is just sad that someone working in their own country in the era of a pandemic hears that they don’t want to work and that they are running away from duty . Well , I think if there was something to push someone abroad , if they were still hesitating over the decision whether to leave or not , then it might have helped them . [Graduate 9, male]

As demonstrated above, junior doctors did not see the pandemic as a decisive push factor for migrations. However, they did see problems exacerbated by the pandemic—both organisational and in terms of political and public attitudes—as serious and possibly acting as an additional factor reinforcing migration decisions of those who had already been considering migration once they reached the appropriate moment in their career (e.g. after completing their internship, after obtaining a specialisation).

Additional political factors were also seen as making doctors’ work more difficult. This was particularly related to abortion. Abortion regulations were further tightened in Poland through a court decision in 2020, which led to the media reporting cases of pregnant women dying when they could have perhaps been saved by an abortion. Doctors felt that they would be blamed, irrespective of what decisions they made.

For me , there is such a lack of certainty when it comes to what the future will look like and how the doctor will be treated in Poland and what the legal threat will be towards the doctor . The first example , from casual conversations , is that fewer and fewer people are interested in gynecology and obstetrics . It used to be a popular specialisation , but nowadays people don’t want to go into it , they are afraid . [Graduate 9, male]

Last but not least, socio-political factors not related to the work of doctors were also mentioned as significant for some participants. This concerned, for example, the treatment of LGBTQ people—both the lack of marriage and adoption rights and the homophobic rhetoric of politicians in government at the time.

The above analysis confirms that factors related to the organization of healthcare and socio-political factors were the most significant in pushing junior doctors to leave. The Covid-19 pandemic in itself did not change the plans of our respondents. However, in their eyes, it highlighted and exacerbated existing problems related to the organisation of healthcare and the treatment of doctors by the authorities and by other members of society. For those who were already considering migration, it may have thus acted as a trigger or last straw.

The quantitative and qualitative analysis above has demonstrated the importance of factors related to healthcare, such as its organisation and working hours, the possible career paths of doctors, or equipment, as influencing the migration intentions of medical students and junior doctors. What is more, socio-political factors, such as hate speech directed at doctors, proved even more important. Our results expand previous scholarships on the importance of emigration among junior doctors as an alternative career path. In previous empirical studies, researchers have mainly identified factors related to the quality of employment and living conditions [ 1 , 25 ], but the influence of socio-political factors on junior doctors’ emigration intentions has not been noticed. Of particular importance is the factor of hate speech towards a particular professional group. Our research has shown that junior doctors may be encouraged to emigrate by unfriendly attitudes from patients and politicians, as well as disrespect for basic rights, including the right to live according to one’s beliefs. The increase in resentment towards doctors observed during the pandemic in Poland may reinforce their decisions to move abroad. This finding is highly relevant to the discussion of ’push/retain’ and ’pull/repel’ factors [ 33 , 38 ]. It introduces a new element into the discussion on the determinants of high-skilled migration, extending the list of possible push factors that need to be considered. The research tests in practice to what extent unexpected circumstances have a real impact on migration decisions, or whether they are only of secondary importance.

During the implementation of the survey, limitations were identified that may affect the results to a certain extent, especially of the quantitative survey. Most respondents had no experience of working in Covid wards, and so they drew their knowledge from colleagues who did have such experience. At the same time, most of them had had contact with Covid-19 patients as part of their internship or learning experience in hospitals. They were therefore able to observe how the pandemic was being dealt with by the Polish healthcare system. A certain limitation was also that the study was conducted while the pandemic was still ongoing, which did not allow the respondents to gain some distance before judging how the Polish healthcare system coped with this emergency. Since the respondents of the survey were medical school students, their perceptions of various factors may change significantly in the first years of their careers as doctors, so the study should not be treated as a prediction of migration levels but rather as exploring factors which influence these decisions.

The survey was discontinued on 26 February 2022, somewhat ahead of schedule, to avoid the risk that the outbreak of war in Ukraine would affect declared migration plans. This resulted in a lower response rate but we felt that it was necessary, since the atmosphere of looming direct threat, present in Poland in the first days after the Russian attack on Ukraine could have influenced responses.

Conclusions

The article aimed to establish to what degree the Covid-19 pandemic and its management influenced the migration intentions of Polish medical students and junior doctors. We found that the difficulties of the Polish healthcare system in dealing with the pandemic had a slightly positive influence on these intentions. At the same time, this factor was secondary–its occurrence was not decisive in the intentions to emigrate but reinforced earlier plans to go abroad. Factors such as the socio-political situation in Poland, participants’ family situation, issues related to hate speech or the perception of doctors’ competence, employment conditions or the possibility of pursuing a planned career path proved to be much more important. Interestingly in our study, salary did not turn out to be the most important factor. This allows us to conclude that in the case of medical students migration decisions have a very well-established basis that does not fundamentally change even under the influence of such a dramatic situation as the pandemic. This conclusion has important implications for the ongoing discussion on the evolution of push and pull factors in place and time as well as the importance of the impact of extraordinary events or circumstances (such as a pandemic) on the migration decisions of high-skilled personnel.

To conclude, given the importance of factors relating to living and working conditions in Poland as revealed by the results of the qualitative and quantitative study, H1 ( The Covid-19 pandemic has increased the migration intentions of junior doctors in Poland) is only partially confirmed. Although the experience of the Covid-19 pandemic exposed the weakness of the Polish healthcare system, the migration intentions of medical students and junior doctors in Poland were also influenced by other factors related to the safety and quality of work and life in Poland, some of which became more pertinent due to the pandemic experience. Those other factors turned out to be not only equally important as the Covid-19 experience, but far more significant, as suggested in H2 ( Long-term factors related to the quality of work and life in Poland are more important for junior doctors considering emigration than the pandemic) .

The Covid-19 pandemic partly co-occurred in Poland with another phenomenon which affected the daily lives of people, including medical students and junior doctors: Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, which resulted in a massive arrival of war refugees and introduced another element of uncertainty. It is an open question to what extent the war in Ukraine, with the Covid-19 pandemic still ongoing, albeit with less intensity, will increase the emigration potential of junior doctors. A positive or negative answer to the question of the impact of the war in Ukraine on migration intentions would be a further contribution to the discussion on the evolution of push and pull factors in space and time under the influence of sudden events of mass character and scope. This issue will be addressed by the research team that authored this paper.

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Assistant, Associate or Professor CHS -OB/Gyn Education Research and Development

• Madison, Wisconsin
• SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AND PUBLIC HEALTH/OBSTETRICS & GYNECOLOGY-GEN
• Instructional Category
• Faculty-Full Time
• Partially Remote
• Opening at: Apr 16 2024 at 16:35 CDT

Job Summary:

The Assistant, Associate, or Professor (CHS Track), OB/Gyn Education Research and Development will play an integral role in scholarship, assessment, and innovation in curriculum and instruction. Implement educational programs designed to equip faculty, residents and students with the knowledge and skills necessary to be effective teachers and learners, as well as foster and facilitate educational research within the department. The duties of this position include research and grant writing to support medical education program development, program evaluation, faculty development, and implementation of innovative curricula, methods of instruction, and assessment of learning.

Responsibilities:

The chosen applicant will participate in administrative and committee work to support the clinical and scholarly missions of UW Health and the School of Medicine and Public Health. An essential part of these duties will be working in a collegial relationship with other faculty members. Responsibilities may include but are not limited to: 1) Educational Research 50% - Collaborate and lead initiatives to promote scholarship resulting from program innovations while developing an independent research program - Take on a leadership role in advancing the progress of education research and development projects by supporting data collection and analysis, writing abstracts and papers for publication, and composing grant applications for project funding - Acquire grants which support the development of medical education program development and research - Conduct systematic literature reviews in support of education research projects - Support the dissemination of scholarly work through publication - Collaborate on the design and analysis of qualitative and quantitative education research studies and the design of mixed- method studies (including a variety of qualitative approaches) - Collaborate with students, residents, fellows, and faculty in developing educational scholarship, presentations, and publications 2) Educational Program Development and Instructional Design 50% - Develop educational processes that align with the needs of learners (including medical students, residents, fellows, graduate students and faculty) and institute effective, theory and research-based training strategies - Collaborate with other faculty on educational innovation opportunities - Participate in meetings with faculty and researchers engaged in educational innovation - Establish relationships within and across the institution to advance the quality and reputation of the department's educational work - Develop departmental teaching skills by creating trainee and faculty development programs in education - Advise faculty, residents, and fellows in the development and implementation of highly effective evaluation methods

Institutional Statement on Diversity:

Diversity is a source of strength, creativity, and innovation for UW-Madison. We value the contributions of each person and respect the profound ways their identity, culture, background, experience, status, abilities, and opinion enrich the university community. We commit ourselves to the pursuit of excellence in teaching, research, outreach, and diversity as inextricably linked goals. The University of Wisconsin-Madison fulfills its public mission by creating a welcoming and inclusive community for people from every background - people who as students, faculty, and staff serve Wisconsin and the world. For more information on diversity and inclusion on campus, please visit: Diversity and Inclusion

Required PhD Preferred focus in Educational Psychology in Learning Sciences or related field.

Qualifications:

Experience with publishing in medical education journals and applying for grant funding in medical education required. Experience with presenting at national medical education meetings and participating on medical education committees at a national level preferred. Candidate should also have experience designing and teaching medical student courses. For an appointment at Associate Professor or Professor rank on CHS Track, candidates will meet criteria established by the department and as outlined in the School of Medicine and Public Health guidelines for promotion or appointment to Associate or Professor on the CHS Track.

Full Time: 100% This position may require some work to be performed in-person, onsite, at a designated campus work location. Some work may be performed remotely, at an offsite, non-campus work location.

Appointment Type, Duration:

Ongoing/Renewable

Anticipated Begin Date:

JULY 01, 2024

Minimum $56,302 ANNUAL (12 months) Depending on Qualifications Employees in this position can expect to receive benefits such as generous vacation, holidays, and sick leave; competitive insurances and savings accounts; retirement benefits. Benefits information can be found at ( https://hr.wisc.edu/benefits/ ). SMPH Academic Staff Benefits flyer: ( https://uwmadison.box.com/s/r50myohfvfd15bqltljn0g4laubuz7t0 )

How to Apply:

The deadline for assuring full consideration is May 18, 2024, however, this position will remain open and applications may be considered until this position is filled. Your application must be received through the Jobs at UW portal to be considered as a candidate. Applications submitted outside of this system will not be considered. To apply for this position, please click on the "Apply Now" button and use the online UW Job Application system to submit the following: - Current Curriculum Vitae (CV). - A cover letter briefly describing your qualifications and experience. - List of contact information for three (3) references, including your current/most recent supervisor. References will not be contacted without prior notice.

Kirsten Gragg [email protected] 608-265-3357 Relay Access (WTRS): 7-1-1. See RELAY_SERVICE for further information.

Official Title:

Professor (CHS)(IC014) or Associate Professor (CHS)(IC015) or Assistant Professor (CHS)(IC016)

Department(s):

A53-MEDICAL SCHOOL/OB-GYN/OB-GYN

Employment Class:

Academic Staff-Renewable

Job Number:

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COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK

Staff Psychiatrist

• CUIMC Student Health Services
• Columbia University Medical Center
• Opening on: Apr 16 2024
• Job Type: Officer of Administration
• Bargaining Unit:
• Regular/Temporary: Regular
• End Date if Temporary:
• Hours Per Week: 20
• Standard Work Schedule:
• Salary Range: $120,000 - $125,0000

Position Summary

The Staff Psychiatrist provides psychiatric evaluation and treatment of students on the Columbia University Irving Medical Center Campus, participates in the on-call service, and provides crisis intervention, as needed.  This is a part-time salaried position.

Responsibilities

• Provide psychiatric evaluation and psychopharmacological treatment as well as consultation and referral to community-based treatment providers when appropriate.
• Provide care in an interpersonally and culturally sensitive manner.
• Document care as prescribed by law and in accordance with best practices.
• Participate in continuous quality improvement.
• Participate in the after-hours emergency on-call service.
• Provide crisis intervention, as needed.

Minimum Qualifications

• Doctorate in Medicine. Completion of an ACGME-accredited residency program in Psychiatry. Candidate will possess a New York State medical license. Candidates will be Board Certified in adult psychiatry.
• Experience working with patients on a psychiatric inpatient unit, or the functional equivalent.
• Demonstrated competence in crisis intervention, assessing need for psychiatric hospitalization, handling psychiatric emergencies, and supervising referral for inpatient care.
• Demonstrated competence in use of best practices for diagnostic evaluation and psychopharmacological treatment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Prior experience working in a university mental health service or a comparable healthcare system.
• Prior experience in urgent care coordination and high risk psychological evaluations.
• Prior experience with, and/or additional training in, the psychiatric care of young adults with the following subspecialties: eating disorders, multicultural or cross-cultural treatment, and substance abuse/dependence.

Equal Opportunity Employer / Disability / Veteran

Columbia University is committed to the hiring of qualified local residents.

Commitment to Diversity 

Columbia university is dedicated to increasing diversity in its workforce, its student body, and its educational programs. achieving continued academic excellence and creating a vibrant university community require nothing less. in fulfilling its mission to advance diversity at the university, columbia seeks to hire, retain, and promote exceptionally talented individuals from diverse backgrounds.  , share this job.

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Blazina, C. (2022, July 15). Key facts about abortion debate in America. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2022/07/15/key-facts-about-the-abortion- debate-in-america/.

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News Today. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/reasons-for-abortions .

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Involving medical students in research

Undergraduate research is not a new phenomenon in medicine. Charles Best was a medical student at the time that he and his supervisor, Frederick Banting, discovered insulin. Insulin arises from the pancreatic islets of Längerhans, themselves discovered in 1869 by medical student Paul Längerhans. In biomedical research, Alan Hodgkin, formerly professor of biophysics at the University of Cambridge, won the Nobel Prize in 1972 for work on nerve transmission that he began as an undergraduate.

Medical student research can be mandatory, elective or extracurricular. In Germany, medical school graduates practice medicine but cannot assume the title ‘Doctor’ until they have submitted a thesis. As a result, around 90% of practicing German physicians have undertaken a period of research. 1 Although research is usually voluntary for UK medical students, there is increasing undergraduate interest in research and publication. The 2007 MTAS form, for example, awards credit to medical graduates for a first author paper in a peer-reviewed journal.

The GMC document Tomorrow's Doctors states that medical school graduates must be able to ‘critically evaluate evidence’ and ‘use research skills to develop greater understanding and to influence their practice’. 2 It has been suggested that a period of research might help fulfill this requirement of new doctors. 3 , 4 Despite this possibility, medical students have only limited opportunities to pursue original research. However, a number of institutions offer intercalated degree courses in which students suspend their medical training to undertake a second degree, often with a strong research component. These attract around a third of UK medical students each year. 5 , 6

Reasons for medical students choosing to intercalate are varied and include improving their long-term career prospects as well as establishing a broad knowledge base. 6 The opportunity to conduct original research is, however, less frequently given as a reason for pursuing an intercalated degree. 5 , 6 In addition, two thirds of new doctors in the UK have not undertaken an intercalated degree 5 , 6 and may graduate without experiencing research. A number of barriers explain the reluctance of medical students to intercalate. One survey found the most common reasons were financial constraints, lack of interest, and reluctance to prolong medical training. 6

Nevertheless, there are many benefits of undergraduate participation in research. For example, student researchers can greatly increase the publication output of their medical school. Academic supervisors at one German institution have reported that students appear as co-authors on approximately 28% of papers published in Medline-indexed journals. 8

Research experience may also boost the career profile of graduating medical students. When a cohort of students at the Stanford University School of Medicine was encouraged to participate in research, 75% gained authorship of a paper and 52% presented data to a national conference. 3 In Germany, around 66% of medical students obtain a Medline-indexed publication before qualifying. This does not include data presented to meetings or published in peer-reviewed journals not indexed by Medline. 8

In addition to boosting graduate employability, publication as an undergraduate can have long-term career implications for doctors. For example, one survey of academic physicians found that career success is independently associated with having conducted research as a student. 9 In addition, physicians who undertook extracurricular research at medical school produced four times as many publications as their peers. 10

Undergraduate research may also provide a solution for countries in which academic medicine is experiencing a crisis in recruiting postgraduate clinical researchers. 11 For example, a survey of medical student researchers found that 75% were motivated to pursue further research and 60% aspired to a full-time academic career. 3

Those students not considering research careers may nevertheless develop skills transferable to clinical practice. In particular, medical student research may help instil a culture of evidence-based medicine (EBM) in clinical medicine. According to one author, ‘the practice of EBM is not a “behaviour”… it is an internalized spirit of enquiry born of a deep understanding… of the value and the limitations of biomedical research’. 5 Indeed, there is evidence to suggest that research experience as an undergraduate may foster this ‘deeper understanding’. 3–5 According to one survey, American medical students participating in research found that the experience ‘taught them to ask questions, review the literature critically, and analyse data’. 3 Students undertaking a mandatory literature review further developed ‘critical appraisal, information literacy, and critical thinking skills’ and the opportunity to make ‘contacts for postgraduate training’. 4

Despite these apparent benefits, there are objections to involving undergraduates in research. Intensive projects may, for example, disrupt the progress of students through the core medical curriculum. Similarly, supervision requirements may distract faculty members from their own clinical and research commitments. However, students do not have to run a clinical trial to learn about the research process. If there are not pre-existing clinical projects suitable for student participation, undergraduates might be involved in critically appraising literature for a review article, or preparing patient case reports for publication. Projects such as these require little supervision while still immersing students in the research culture of their profession.

In summary, research opportunities for medical students are often confined to intercalated degree courses; potentially increasing financial burden, prolonging the curriculum and delaying clinical experience. As a result, around two thirds of medical students eschew the opportunity to intercalate 5 , 6 and miss out on conducting original research. Nevertheless, the benefits of student participation in research are well-documented for graduates, institutions and the academic community as a whole. 3–5 , 7–10 As a result, senior doctors should strongly consider involving motivated students in elective or extracurricular research projects. Furthermore, medical educators should recognize the value of student research and incorporate opportunities into the curriculum wherever practicable. Only in these ways can we secure a future for academic medicine and foster a genuine respect for EBM in tomorrow's doctors.

DECLARATIONS —

Competing interests DM is an undergraduate medical student and Editor of Reinvention: A Journal of Undergraduate Research . He has received research funding from the Reinvention Centre for Undergraduate Research at the University of Warwick and Oxford Brookes University

Funding None

Ethical approval Not applicable

Guarantor DM

Contributorship DM is the sole contributor

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank Mina Aletrari for reviewing earlier drafts of this paper