Medical Students’ Research Activity as a Factor of Their Personal and Professional Development

Abstract

Activity in the student scientific society (SSC) during higher education is an important factor that affects both the quality of specialist training and the success of their continuous personal and professional development. However, the interest of the majority of students in self-education and work in SSS is relatively low. The problem of involving a medical student in the scientific environment is particularly relevant in the modern social context, which is characterized by the young generation's fascination with the virtual world, which often leads to the development of infantile behavior, inability to independently and clearly plan immediate goals and ways to implement them, and lack of readiness for effective communication in the real world of the medical profession. The purpose of the study was to assess the potential and identify the ways of motivation and the optimal organization of medical students’ research activity as their personal and professional growth driver. The objectives of the study included: a) identification of the main factors motivating students to engage in scientific activities; b) assessment of the association between, on the one hand, the participation of students in the work of the Student Research Society and, on the other hand, the level of their academic achievement and overall personal development; c) search for effective ways to organize students' research work. The study was carried out on the basis of an autonomy-oriented approach which prioritizes a self-determined continuous personal and professional development. As part of the study, a survey was conducted among 230 fifth and sixth-year medical students of Professor V.F. Voino-Yasenetsky Krasnoyarsk State Medical University. Statistical data processing was carried out using the application package EXCEL and STATISTICA FOR WINDOWS 10.0. The results of the study indicate that participating in the work of the Student Research Society is an important factor in the personal and professional development of medical students, helping to increase their academic performance, improve the quality of knowledge mastering, develop the basis for students’ clinical thinking, inspire their interest in continuous personal and professional development as well as ensure their successful self-realization in the medical profession. It was revealed that continuous personal and professional development requires students to have a certain level of research competence, which is based on their educational research autonomy. It has been established that the most important conditions for medical students’ personal and professional development in research activities are ensuring their research orientation, fostering their personal involvement into research work and enriching their research expertise based on the autonomy-oriented approach. Specific activities are underlined that allow for the implementation of the conditions of students’ personal and professional development in research work and autonomization of the university educational environment.