Curricular Flexibility in the Pre-Clinical Years Promotes Medical Student Scholarship

Abstract

Medical student research is recognized as a critical component of undergraduate medical education. Current studies focusing on curricular improvements to promote student research are limited by lack of objective outcome data. At the Mayo Medical School, research has been an integral component of the curriculum since its inception in 1972. In 2006, selectives (periods of time free from competing didactic or clinical responsibilities) were implemented, which permitted students flexibility in their pre-clinical years to pursue service projects, research endeavors, and career exploration. The purpose of this study was to quantify the effects of this curricular revision on research productivity by Mayo medical students. Publications by Mayo medical students graduating in the 2004-2011 time period were queried in the PubMed database. The number, impact factor, and time to publication for these publications was assembled and analyzed in a cohort of students that graduated before and after selectives were implemented. We found that students who participated in selectives published more papers, papers with a higher impact factor, and published papers earlier in their training than students who graduated prior to the implementation of selectives. We propose that selectives are an effective means to increase research productivity in the Mayo medical school curriculum.

A flexible, preclinical, medical school curriculum increases student academic productivity and the desire to conduct future research

“…Surveying Mayo Medical School students from before and after implementation of selectives in the preclinical curriculum, we found that selectives had a significant positive impact on the research productivity and interest of medical students. We confirmed the results from our previous PubMed study [7]. Importantly, we added to that study by showing that postselective students did not have a premedical school predisposition towards research, and we showed a significant, direct impact of selectives on medical student research productivity during medical school and on their Postselective students produced significantly more publications and presentations during medical school, compared with preselective students.…”

“…These studies generally have looked at elective curricula or medical student research fellowships. To our knowledge, this study and our previous study are the first to look at the direct impact of the curricular change on research productivity . The Mayo Medical School program is also unique in that research is a requirement of all graduating students and selectives are a required curriculum for all preclinical students .…”

“…To our knowledge, this study and our previous study are the first to look at the direct impact of the curricular change on research productivity . The Mayo Medical School program is also unique in that research is a requirement of all graduating students and selectives are a required curriculum for all preclinical students . There is not a separate research track or elective curriculum for research, all students are expected to participate in the third‐year research block, and now, they may also participate in research during the preclinical years.…”

“…In order to combat the challenges facing medical research, medical schools need to train future physicians who are eager to pursue careers that include medical research . Medical student research has been shown to provide many benefits beyond the actual research produced, including medical communication skills, medical literature comprehension, critical thinking skills, career mentorship, and a deeper understanding of medical specialties . Consequently, the AAMC, LCME, and ACGME have all encouraged medical trainee research opportunities as components of their guidelines, competencies, and milestones .…”

“…published data on the quantitative impact of those curricular reforms on student scholarship [4,7,8,12,13,19,30,31]. In 2006, Mayo Medical School made a significant change in the preclinical curriculum to include flexible time (termed selec-tives) between blocks of courses that would allow students to pursue a variety of academic pursuits, including research, service, and specialty exploration [7,32]. Selectives were generally periods of 1 to 2 weeks, and the activities…”