Research initiative

BACKGROUND: Adaptive design clinical trials use preplanned interim analyses to determine whether studies should be stopped or modified before recruitment is complete. Emergency medicine trials are well suited to these designs as many have a short time to primary outcome relative to the length of recruitment. We hypothesised that the majority of published emergency medicine trials have the potential to use a simple adaptive trial design. METHODS: We reviewed clinical trials published in three emergency medicine journals between January 2003 and December 2013...

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to examine how students' perceptions of research and learning change through participation in undergraduate research and to identify the factors that affect the process of their engagement in research projects. METHODS: This qualitative study has drawn on phenomenography as research methodology to explore third-year medical students' experiences of undergraduate research from participants' perspectives (n=14). Data included semi-structured individual interviews conducted as pre and post reflections...

PURPOSE: The aim of medical student research programs is to develop interest in and competencies related to scholarly research within future physicians. Although schools invest in these programs, there is currently no consensus regarding what benefits they confer. The goal of this review is to characterize students' perceptions of research programs during medical school as well as the outcomes attributed to these programs to provide recommendations for their optimization. METHOD: In June 2013, the authors reviewed the literature (1950-June 2013) and identified 20 reports that provided original data delineating undergraduate medical students' primarily self-reported experiences with, outcomes related to, and attitudes toward research...

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No abstract text is available yet for this article.

BACKGROUND: Undergraduate research in medicine is important to expose and encourage the students towards the newer advances and research practices. The present study was taken up in a medical institute to assess the perception of the medical faculty about research undertaken by the medical undergraduates, and identifying the barriers faced by them in training undergraduate students for research. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A questionnaire on perceptions, barriers and limitations towards undergraduate research was distributed to 105 participants included in the study...

INTRODUCTION: Major changes are occurring in surgical training in the UK and Ireland. Training time is reduced due to the introduction of run-through training and the EWTD. Streamlined training also may affect the number of trainees engaging in full-time higher degrees by research, in spite of the fact that those who do engage are more academically productive. This study assesses the attitudes of medical students towards a career in surgery and their attitudes to research, especially in the context of an intercalated degree programme...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Peer teaching engages students as teachers and is widely used in K-12 education, many universities, and increasingly in medical schools. It draws on the social and cognitive congruence between learner and teacher and can be attractive to medical schools faced with a growing number of learners but a static faculty size. Peer teachers can give lectures on assigned topics, lead problem-based learning sessions, and provide one on one support to classmates in the form of tutoring...

BACKGROUND: The continuing decline in clinician scientists is a global concern. This paper reports on a two-fold rationale to address this decline by increasing the number of students on a formal pathway to an academic research career, and building a 'teaching-research nexus' using the research intensive environment at our University. METHODS: The University of Queensland has implemented a research intensive program, the Clinician Scientist Track (CST), for a select cohort of students to pursue a part time research Masters degree alongside their full time medical degree...

OBJECTIVE: There is a growing concern about a shortage of physician scientists. This problem is particularly severe in certain subspecialties such as geriatrics in general and geriatric psychiatry in particular. This study sought to obtain medical students' perspectives on barriers and facilitators toward pursuing a career in academics and/or in geriatric psychiatry or geriatic medicine. METHODS: The study surveyed 27 first-year medical students from six US medical schools, who had demonstrated a clear interest in academic geriatrics by completing a mentored summer research training program in geriatric medicine or geriatric psychiatry, funded by the National Institute on Aging...

This study used variables proposed in social cognitive career theory (SCCT) to focus the evaluation of a research curriculum at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University (CCLCM). Eight cohorts of CCLCM medical students completed a web-based version of the six-scale Clinical Research Appraisal Inventory-Short Form (CRAI-SF) items at matriculation (n = 128) or graduation (n = 111) during 2009-2013. Parametric statistics were used to compare CRAI-SF scales to domains proposed in SCCT: trainees' characteristics (gender, training level, advanced degree), career interests, career intentions (medical specialty), and performance (peer-reviewed publications and required thesis topic)...

The global need to develop clinician-scientists capable of using research in clinical practice, translating research knowledge into practice, and carrying out research that affects the quality, efficacy, and efficiency of health care is well documented. The complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) professions embrace the call to develop physician-researchers to carry out translational and applied research for CAM modalities. CAM universities face unique challenges when implementing research training compared with traditional, research-intensive (TRI) universities and medical centers where the majority of medical research is carried out...

OBJECTIVE: The authors describe a multifaceted educational training approach aimed at increasing medical student involvement in psychiatric research. METHOD: A description of the initiative is provided, including the rationale and expected impact of each component. RESULTS: Medical student involvement in research projects has increased steadily since implementation. This applies to summer research projects as well as elective research rotations for senior medical students...

We aimed to explore perceptions, attitudes and practices toward research among medical students. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed among senior medical students at the King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Hundred and seventy two students participated in the study, with 97 males (65.5%). The majority of the students agreed that research is important in the medical field (97.1%, 167/172). A total of 67.4% (116/172) believed that conducting research should be mandatory for all medical students...

BACKGROUND: In most parts of the world, medical education is predominantly geared to create service personnel for medical and health services. Training in research is ignored, which is a major handicap for students who are motivated to do research. The main objective of this study was to develop, for such students, a cost-effective 'in-study' research training module that could be adopted even by medical colleges, which have a modest research infrastructure, in different regions of India...

BACKGROUND: The workforce of 'physician--scientists' is ageing and decreasing in numbers. The responsibility to combat this trend rests on future generations of healthcare professionals and it is therefore valuable to evaluate medical students' attitudes towards research. OBJECTIVE: To establish the attitudes of University of Cape Town (UCT) medical students towards research and to investigate the factors influencing these attitudes. METHODS: An anonymous, cross--sectional, self--administered questionnaire was administered to medical students from years 1 to 6 studying medicine at UCT in 2011...

There is a well-documented shortage of physician researchers, and numerous training programs have been launched to facilitate development of new physician scientists. Short-term research training programs are the most practical form of research exposure for most medical students, and the summer between their first and second years of medical school is generally the longest period they can devote solely to research. The goal of short-term training programs is to whet the students' appetite for research and spark their interest in the field...

Many medical students are interested in basic medical researches. However, to make a decision to get into the research position throughout the life is not easy. In Kurume University, although shortage of clinicians, partly due to the atmosphere that senior doctors consider experiences of basic research is favorable as well as a re-evaluation of PhD degree, staffs and PhD students with MD or DDS are not very rare in the departments of basic medical sciences including the anatomy department. Some, not many though, MDs once lead clinical experience return to basic research in order to solve problems they encountered at clinical scenes or for enthusiasms for spirit of further inquiry for life sciences...

BACKGROUND: There is a lack of consensus regarding the qualities possessed by the ideal doctor, and very limited research regarding the views of medical students on these qualities. AIMS: To investigate the views of commencing medical students regarding the desirable qualities of doctors. METHODS: A survey containing a set of proposed desirable qualities of doctors identified from the existing literature was completed by 158 first-year medical students...

PURPOSE: To explore authorship issues related to medical students' primary research projects, assess medical students' knowledge about authorship issues in biomedical research, and determine their interest in learning about authorship guidelines. METHOD: In 2011, the authors developed and conducted an electronic survey of 243 U.S. medical students who attended an educational event at the National Institutes of Health as part of their funded, yearlong research fellowship programs...