TY - JOUR
T1 - The Medical Student Summer Research Program at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston
T2 - building research foundations
AU - Cain, Lisa
AU - Kramer, George
AU - Ferguson, Monique
N1 - Funding Information:
The American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC) 2014 Medical School Graduation Questionnaire cited a 7.9% increase in the proportion of students who participated with scientific research projects under the supervision of a faculty mentor between 2010 and 2014. [1] This indicates that more medical schools are incorporating research opportunities for medical students into their curriculum. The major challenge is providing research opportunities for a large number of medical students at a single institution. The establishment of research programs for medical students helps them to develop critical thinking skills in evaluating scientific evidence to prepare for competitive residency applications. In addition, it introduces the concept of research as a possible component of their medical careers, helps to establish self-directed lifelong learning, and emphasizes the importance of literature searches and analytical thinking [2,3]. Student research programs are presented in the form of summer programs, elective courses, research tracks, and four year supplemental programs. [4–7] They are supported by intramural and extramural funding, endowments, and alumni associations. Students may also enroll in a dual M.D.-Ph.D. degree program. Due to the recent decline in the number of clinical scientists [8–15], emphasizing the importance of the transition from research to clinical discovery is pertinent to a medical student’s knowledge base. The main outcomes of a research experience are the assimilation of research techniques that can be utilized to pursue additional research training opportunities or to pursue research as a component of their medical profession. [2,16,17] Students with research experience who do not pursue research as a career can still apply these tools to clinically relevant problems
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019, © 2019 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2019/1/1
Y1 - 2019/1/1
N2 - Background: Interest in incorporating research into the medical school curriculum has grown over the years. One of the challenges involved with providing research to medical students is developing programs that allow a large number of students to perform research. This involves securing faculty to mentor students in the design of research projects. In order to accommodate students with research interests, well-established research programs must be implemented. Objective: This article describes the design and implementation of a curriculum-based research program for medical students at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) at Galveston. The main objective of this article is to describe the program for the purpose of assisting other medical schools to develop a similar student research program. Design: At UTMB we established a Medical Student Summer Research Program (MSSRP) that occurred between the first year and the second year of medical school. Between the years 2000–2017, MSSRP accommodated a minimum of 39 and a maximum of 90 students during an 8 week period. Two surveys were conducted to collect students’ views on how MSSRP affected their interest in research. We performed a proportion statistical analysis on the data from both surveys in order to determine the significance of the responses. Results: The benefit of MSSRP is that it provided medical students with an exposure to research. According to the proportions test, the responses were statistically significant with 85% of 26 third and fourth year students stating they would continue to incorporate research into their medical careers; 75% stating that MSSRP increased their interest in research; and 85% responding that MSSRP helped them to understand research methodology. Conclusions: MSSRP is a curriculum-based program that provides a framework to other medical institutions interested in the development of similar student research programs and provides students the exposure and option to continue with research as a component of their medical profession.
AB - Background: Interest in incorporating research into the medical school curriculum has grown over the years. One of the challenges involved with providing research to medical students is developing programs that allow a large number of students to perform research. This involves securing faculty to mentor students in the design of research projects. In order to accommodate students with research interests, well-established research programs must be implemented. Objective: This article describes the design and implementation of a curriculum-based research program for medical students at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) at Galveston. The main objective of this article is to describe the program for the purpose of assisting other medical schools to develop a similar student research program. Design: At UTMB we established a Medical Student Summer Research Program (MSSRP) that occurred between the first year and the second year of medical school. Between the years 2000–2017, MSSRP accommodated a minimum of 39 and a maximum of 90 students during an 8 week period. Two surveys were conducted to collect students’ views on how MSSRP affected their interest in research. We performed a proportion statistical analysis on the data from both surveys in order to determine the significance of the responses. Results: The benefit of MSSRP is that it provided medical students with an exposure to research. According to the proportions test, the responses were statistically significant with 85% of 26 third and fourth year students stating they would continue to incorporate research into their medical careers; 75% stating that MSSRP increased their interest in research; and 85% responding that MSSRP helped them to understand research methodology. Conclusions: MSSRP is a curriculum-based program that provides a framework to other medical institutions interested in the development of similar student research programs and provides students the exposure and option to continue with research as a component of their medical profession.
KW - Medical student summer research program
KW - curriculum-based research programs
KW - medical education
KW - medical student research training opportunities
KW - physician scientist careers
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85062395713&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85062395713&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/10872981.2019.1581523
DO - 10.1080/10872981.2019.1581523
M3 - Article
C2 - 30831061
AN - SCOPUS:85062395713
SN - 1087-2981
VL - 24
JO - Medical education online
JF - Medical education online
IS - 1
M1 - 1581523
ER -