Interest in research among medical students: Challenges for the undergraduate education

Abstract

Moraes DW et al. 652rev assoC med bras 2016; 62(7):652-658 ORIGINAL ARTICLEInterest in research among medical students: Challenges for the undergraduate education Introduction: In recent decades, there has been a reduction in the number of graduates from medical schools who choose to pursue a career in scientific research. That has an impact on the profile of graduates, since medical education depends on understanding the formation of scientific evidence. The construction of new knowledge is also hampered by the reduction of medical scientists, whose clinical experience with patients provides an essential step towards medical science evolution.Objective: The present cross-sectional study sought to identify the interest in research among medical students from a federal university in southern Brazil. Method: Medical students from a federal university were asked to respond to a self-administered questionnaire that sought to identify the level of knowledge about the importance of scientific research in medical training, and the interest of this population in this element of their training. Results: 278 medical students from the first to the sixth year responded to the questionnaire, and 81.7% stated their interest in medical research. However, only 4.7% of respondents considered research as first in degree of importance to their medical training. The variable "interest in research" showed no statistically significant association with age, gender, presence of physicians in the family, or other prior college courses. Conclusion: Although interest in research is clearly present among the students, this is still an underexplored element among the population studied. The incorporation of research in the learning process depends on stimulus and guidance until it becomes culturally consolidated as an essential element of the medical training.

Contemporary global perspectives of medical students on research during undergraduate medical education: a systematic literature review

“…Others were lack of mentors, lack of interest in research, lack of finding same-gender research mentor, and lack of opportunities.Kumar, 2009 [40]India471 medical studentsAwareness, perceptions and practices-Questionnaire-based qualitative study−70% were aware about research although the level of awareness varied.-Various skills of conducting research were known to 47% of the students.-76% were part of a research team mainly as a part of the medical curriculum.-8.3% were confident of research as a career option.Mahmood, 2017 [4]Pakistan294 medical students-Current research practices.-Future intentions.-Related motivations, barriers, and sought-after interventions-Self-administered questionnaire-Intentions to pursue research at a professional level remained low (19.7%).-Intentions decreased each passing year of study.-Most commonly expressed motivation for pursuing research was “admission into a residency program” (71.8%).-Such intention was associated with a decreased likelihood of pursing research professionally.-Barriers: Lack of time (72.4%), lack of supervisors (50.3%), lack of opportunity (48.3%).Meraj, 2016 [34]Pakistan172 medical studentsPerceptions and attitudes-Cross-sectional questionnaire−45.3% were aware of research opportunities.-65.7% thought research was important to future career and relevant to their lives-41.9% not interested in research as a career.-41.3% students enjoyed research-70% perceived research as stressful and 62.2% complexMina et al, 2016 [32]Saudi Arabia218/350 medical studentsPerception and participation-Online survey-Top three influential factors: Facilitate entry into competitive residency programs (88.1%), improve curriculum vitae (81.2%), and publish in peer-reviewed journals (79.8%).-Participation in research significantly differed by gender, academic year, and GPA.Moraes, 2016 [27]Brazil278 medical students from first to sixth year.Interest in research-Cross-sectional, self-administered questionnaire−81.7% were interested in research.-Only 4.7% of the students thought research is important.-No statistically significant association with age, gender, number of physicians in their family, prior college courses were found.Nel et al, 2013 [30]South Africa733 medical studentsAttitudes…”

“…One common strand that was found in the perspectives of research during medical education was the medical students’ expressed interest and positive attitude toward research [20,27,28]. Overall, medical students viewed research as useful and important to their education [29,30].…”

Correlation Between Demographic Perspective of PG Trainees and Research: A Cross-Sectional Multidisciplinary Study

“…Same results were identified worldwide as other researcher also declare medical students interest in scientific activities. 8,[19][20][21] Amin TT, Khan H & Aslam A identified significant improvement in the attitudes of medical students with increasing years of study in medical college. 8,14,19 Whereas in Morae's study, participants presented highest interest (81.7%) in research activities.…”

Research activity in the structure of the future doctor’s psychological readiness to the profession

“…Готовность к научно-исследовательской деятельности рассматривается как личностное образование, определяющее состояние личности субъекта и включающее мотивационно-ценностное отношение к этой деятельности, систему методологических знаний, исследовательских умений, позволяющих продуктивно их использовать при решении возникающих профессионально важных задач [22,28]. А.Т.…”