Addressing Motivations and Barriers to Research Involvement during Medical School among Osteopathic Medical Students in the United States

Abstract

Involvement in research is regarded as a high-impact educational practice, which, for medical professionals, is associated with sharpened critical thinking and life-long learning skills, greater appreciation for evidence-based medicine, and better clinical competence scores. However, there are limited data regarding the research experience and/or interest among osteopathic medical students in the United States despite a rapidly increasing enrollment and expansion of the number of osteopathic medical schools. Thus, we administered an electronic survey examining prior research experience, interests, and perceptions about research participation during medical school to four successive classes of incoming first-year osteopathic medical students. We also performed focus groups with rising third-year osteopathic medical students around the topic of perceived barriers to and potential enablers of promoting research participation. This yielded a survey addendum where first-year osteopathic medical students provided feedback on the likelihood of specific incentives/enablers to encourage participation in research during medical school. Overall, osteopathic medical students are interested in research, view research experience as valuable, and perceive research experience as beneficial to future career development. Students perceive that the primary barrier to involvement in research is a potential negative impact upon performance in coursework. Feedback on the likelihood of specific enablers/incentives was also garnered. Our findings from a single institution may have important implications in defining the prior experiences and perceptions held by first-year osteopathic medical students. Specifically, our study indicates that research experiences intentionally designed with (1) a strong likelihood of gaining a publication, (2) financial compensation, and (3) the opportunity for short-term involvement, a flexible time commitment, and/or a dedicated time period are most likely to encourage research participation by osteopathic medical students.