Abstract
Background
The rate of medical student participation in research remains relatively low despite the number of benefits it affords. The aim of the current study was to explore the factors influencing the decision to become involved in research as it pertains to pre-clinical medical students at our institution.
Methods
An anonymous questionnaire was handed to second and third year (i.e. pre-clinical) medical students.
Results
A total of 249 students returned the completed questionnaire (response rate of 42%). A sizeable proportion of the respondents (40.2%) indicated an interest in being involved in research (e.g. ethics application, data collection or reporting of results), as medical students. Neither age nor debt-burden seemed to influence the students’ interest in research. Intrinsic interests in research and career progression were cited as the main motives for involvement in scholarly activities. On the other hand, the main barriers to research participation were time and financial costs.
Conclusions
Creative solutions specifically addressing the obstacles identified by medical students are needed in order to enhance their participation in research early in their careers. Given the limitations of this study, further research is required to corroborate our findings.
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Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank Ms Anne-Marrie Patterson for her assistance in liaising with the study participants.
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Conflict of Interest
The author declares that there is no conflict of interest.
Ethical Approval
This study was approved by the Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Otago, Christchurch, on behalf of the University of Otago Human Ethics Committee (reference: D18/207).
Informed Consent
Students who responded to administered survey after reading the Information Sheet were assumed to have provided consent at the time of completion.
Additional information
What is already known on the subject
Barriers ought to be identified and rectified in order to facilitate engagement of medical students in academic pursuits.
Whilst a number of barriers have been identified, relatively little is known about their contribution to specific student-populations.
What this study adds
Neither age nor debt-burden of medical students in New Zealand appeared to alter their interest in research, despite citing time and financial constraints as their most significant barriers.
Qualitative research should be undertaken next to further analyse identified barriers.
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Alamri, Y. Factors Influencing Decisions to Become Involved in Research: a Study of Pre-clinical Medical Students from New Zealand. Med.Sci.Educ. 29, 489–492 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40670-019-00717-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40670-019-00717-1