Dataset Information

Cross-sectional Survey of Medical student perceptions of And desires for Research and Training pathways (SMART): an analysis of prospective cohort study of UK medical students.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

Clinician-scientists are critical to medical innovation and research. However, the number of clinician scientists in the UK has been declining steadily over the last decade. One of the cited reasons is poor student recruitment to academic training pathways. The SMART study aims to assess current student perceptions on research and identify key factors influencing whether a student is interested in research.

Design

We conducted a cross-sectional survey study between January and May 2022.

Setting

This was a multi-centre national study with data collected across 40 universities offering medical courses in the UK.

Participants

Participants were UK medical students enrolled in medicine for 21/22 academic year.

Main outcome and measure

The main outcomes were related to participant perceptions on research and whether they were interested in engaging with research in their future career. These measures were correlated with demographic and non-demographic details using regression analyses.

Results

One thousand seven hundred seventy-four individuals participated in the SMART survey from 40 medical schools. Nearly half the participants felt there were barriers preventing them from doing research (46.67%) and almost three-quarters felt it was at least somewhat difficult to combine research with medical school (73.49%). Of the options available, most commonly students did not want to pursue an academic career (43.11%) or training pathway (42.49%). However, most participants felt it was useful to do research at medical school (59.54%) and were also interested in doing more research in the future (69.16%). Regression analysis identified many factors influencing student's perceptions of research including year of study, gender, socioeconomic status, family background, research exposure at medical school, ethnicity, and country of pre-university education.

Conclusions

The SMART study is the first of its kind in the UK, shedding light on medical student perceptions. While some express strong interest in academic careers, a larger proportion show a broader interest in research. Demographic factors like gender, parental occupation, and socioeconomic status play a role. Further exploration is needed for specific groups to address barriers, promote research, and boost academic pathway recruitment.

SUBMITTER: Parameswaran G

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10725016 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Cross-sectional Survey of Medical student perceptions of And desires for Research and Training pathways (SMART): an analysis of prospective cohort study of UK medical students.

Parameswaran Gokul G Bowman Amelia A Swales Catherine C Ooi Setthasorn Zhi Yang SZY Chan Shie Wei SW Babu Priya Rose PR Ramsay Daniele D Kostoudi Sofia S Bandyopadhyay Soham S

BMC medical education 20231215 1

<h4>Objective</h4>Clinician-scientists are critical to medical innovation and research. However, the number of clinician scientists in the UK has been declining steadily over the last decade. One of the cited reasons is poor student recruitment to academic training pathways. The SMART study aims to assess current student perceptions on research and identify key factors influencing whether a student is interested in research.<h4>Design</h4>We conducted a cross-sectional survey study between Janua ...[more]

PMID: 38102619

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Project description:In the Spring of 2020, we launched a rigor and reproducibility curriculum for medical students in research training programs. This required class consisted of eight, 2-h sessions, which transitioned to remote learning in response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic. The class was graded as pass/fail. Flipped classroom techniques, with multiple hands-on exercises, were developed for first-year medical students (MD/PhD [n = 9], Clinical and Translational Research Pathway (CTRP) students [n = 9]). Four focus groups (n = 13 students) and individual interviews with the two instructors were conducted in May 2020. From individual interviews with instructors and focus groups with medical students, the course and its components were favorably reviewed. Students thought the course was novel, important, relevant, and practical-and teaching strategies were effective (e.g., short lectures, interactive small group exercises, and projects). Most students expressed concerns about lack of time for course preparation. Sharper focus and streamlining of preparation work may be required. Pre- and post-student self-assessments of rigor and reproducibility competencies showed average post-scores ranging from high/moderate to strong understanding (n = 11). We conclude that rigor and reproducibility can be taught to first-year medical students in research pathways programs in a highly interactive and remote format. Study Highlights WHAT IS THE CURRENT KNOWLEDGE ON THE TOPIC? The rigor and reproducibility crisis calls for robust training of scientists in best practices for enhancing the research rigor. WHAT QUESTION DID THIS STUDY ADDRESS? We evaluated a curriculum to develop physician-scientists skilled at documenting research workflow from idea generation to publication with reproducibility in mind. WHAT DOES THIS STUDY ADD TO OUR KNOWLEDGE? Highly interactive exercises, coupled with a hands-on replication group project provide a pathway for students to gain competencies important to the improvement of rigor and reproducibility in scientific research. Rigor and reproducibility can be taught in a highly interactive format and using a remote format. HOW MIGHT THIS CHANGE CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY OR TRANSLATIONAL SCIENCE? Formal training is needed to raise awareness of the reproducibility crisis and improve the rigor of research conducted. If techniques taught are used, the transparency and reproducibility of clinical and translational science will be improved.

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Dataset Information

Cross-sectional Survey of Medical student perceptions of And desires for Research and Training pathways (SMART): an analysis of prospective cohort study of UK medical students.

Objective

Design

Setting

Participants

Main outcome and measure

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Cross-sectional Survey of Medical student perceptions of And desires for Research and Training pathways (SMART): an analysis of prospective cohort study of UK medical students.

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