Inclination towards a research career among first year medical students: an international study

Abstract

Introduction: The importance of fostering clinicians who are also scientists is well recognized. It is of value to assess medical students' inclination towards and self-perceived readiness for a research career, as this has implications on the future development of such individuals. Methods: A questionnaire was self-administered to all consenting first year medical students from eleven universities in ten countries. Questions were asked pertaining to inclination towards research careers, confidence in research methodology and ability to understand medical literature. Results: A total of 1354 questionnaires were completed, with a mean response rate of 76.5%. While 24.8% students expressed an interest in pursuing a research career, 48.3% were undecided. Students with prior research experience and students who were attending graduate medical school programmes were more likely to have an interest in a research career after graduation. Males were more interested in learning about biostatistics than females, while the reverse was true for learning about research ethics. Discussion: Most students in their first year of medical school are not inclined towards a research career. This finding applies internationally, across different countries and medical school systems. Thus, the onus is on medical schools to help transform the perception and attitudes of their students during the course of their training, so that a greater proportion will be interested in and ultimately pursue research careers.

Inclination towards research and the pursuit of a research career among medical students: an international cohort study

“…This prospective cohort study is the follow-up to a previously published baseline survey [ 4 ]. Medical schools from eleven universities in ten countries across five continents collaborated on this comparison study.…”

“…Medical schools from eleven universities in ten countries across five continents collaborated on this comparison study. The study design, methodology and study implementation have been previously documented [ 4 ]. In brief, a self-administered, non- anonymised questionnaire was used for a baseline study of first year medical students.…”

“…In view of the decreasing number of physician-scientists, various research councils and institutes across different countries are increasing their focus on training ‘clinician scientists’ (medical graduates who primarily pursue a career in biomedical research) and ‘clinician investigators’ (medical graduates who primarily are involved in patient care, but are also involved in research) [ 4 ].…”

“…For example, several key factors associated with a career in research include participation in research projects or electives and authoring research papers while in medical school [ 8 ], involvement in research training and experience while in medical school [ 9 ], and the desire to pursue a graduate research degree along with a medical degree [ 10 ]. However, a recent study showed only a minority of first-year medical students across different countries and different medical schools were inclined towards a career in research [ 4 ].…”

“…This article reports on medical students’ inclination towards a research career at the time of graduation, involving the same cohort as Tan et al [ 4 ]. In that original study, medical students were assessed in terms of their confidence with biomedical research methodology, ability to interpret and understand biomedical literature, and their inclination towards research at the point of entry into medical school.…”