Are medical students interested in research? - students' attitudes towards research.

BACKGROUND: Throughout the years significant progress has been observed in all medical fields. It was possible to achieve thanks to a wide range of scientists, including physician-scientists. However, in recent years their number is significantly declining. Thus we have aimed to explore the attitudes of medical students towards research. METHODS: The cross-sectional study was conducted among medical students of Medical University of Warsaw between the 1st and 23rd of December 2019. Survey examining scientific interests and activities, opinions on selected research issues, and perception of potential barriers to research activities has been distributed to 838 students and collected from 695 (391 students of the 2nd year and 304 of the 5th year) with a response rate of 82.9%. Descriptive statistics, the Chi-squared test, U-Mann-Whitney, and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used for between-group comparisons. The differences were considered statistically significant if the p values were <.05. RESULTS: 55.2% of responders rated their scientific interests in high school as high, with no significant differences between 2nd and 5th-year students. 33.8% (n = 233) of all students plan to pursue research activity after graduation, and 52.8% (n = 360) plan to obtain PhD title. Students who presented higher scientific interests in high school more often were involved in research projects at the university (24.7% vs 17.5%, p = .044), and showed higher interest in pursuing a research career (37.9% vs 28.9%, p = .02). Lack of time and knowledge on starting a research project were perceived as the main barriers to scientific work. CONCLUSIONS: Many medical students express research interests, are involved in scientific projects, and plan to pursue their careers in this direction. There is a majority of students with lower attitudes towards research. Medical universities should consider adapting their curricula accordingly to accommodate the needs of both groups and respond to the shortage of physicians working in clinics and research.KEY MESSAGESOne-third of medical students plan to pursue career in medical research after graduation.Students who presented higher scientific interests in the high school are more often involved in research projects at the university and show higher interest in pursuing a research career.According to medical students, lack of time, resources and funding and insufficient knowledge how to start a research project are the most important barriers to research activity.

Construction and Piloting of Attitude Towards Research Participation Scale for University Students.

INTRODUCTION: Attitude toward participation in the research plays an important role in the quality of any research. Therefore, researchers aimed at construction and piloting of scale to measure attitude toward research participation for university students. METHOD AND RESULTS: In Study I, an initial pool of items was generated on the basis of literature review, semi-structured interviews and expert opinions. After ensuring content validity and finalizing items with the help of experts, the scale was applied on a sample of 426 university students including both men (n = 114) and women (n = 312) with age range of 17-30. Exploratory factor analysis revealed the two factor structure was with 60.33% cumulative variance. The factors revealed were positive attitude and negative attitude toward research with alpha reliability of 0.84 for positive attitude while 0.76 for negative attitude. In Study II, confirmatory factor analysis revealed excellent model fit indices with two factor structure. Study III was meant to provide evidence of construct validity. Positive correlation showed exploration and curiosity with positive attitude toward research and negative correlation of exploration and curiosity with negative attitude toward research participation provided strong evidence for convergent validity. While non-significant correlation of attitude toward research with religiosity confirmed the divergent validity of the scale. CONCLUSION: Findings of the study revealed that Attitude Toward Research Participation Scale is a valid and reliable measure. It can be used for university students to measure their attitude toward research.

Incidencia de la comprensión lectora en las aptitudes investigativas de los estudiantes de educación superior / Impact of reading comprehension on research attitudes in Higher Education students

El deficiente hábito de lectura de los estudiantes que llegan a la educación superior no solo afecta su cultura general sino repercute significativamente en sus aptitudes investigativas,; demostrando desinterés por las investigaciones, en ocasiones carentes de innovaciones carentes de pensamiento crítico, e incluso reflexivo, lo que limita su papel proactivo., por ellos aplicamos como método una revisión del estado del arte en la temática. De este modo, el presente artículo tuvo como objetivo reflexionar acerca de la implementación de estrategias conscientes para incentivar la comprensión lectora en los estudiantes que ingresan a la educación superior. Se utilizaron métodos teóricos y empíricos como el análisis y la síntesis, el inductivo-deductivo, la revisión bibliográfica y la observación. Se abordaron temáticas relacionadas con la comprensión lectora, las aptitudes investigativas, y se estableció su relación con la docencia, mediante técnicas didácticas que incentivaran al estudiante a la lectura reflexiva y a la investigación acerca de temáticas de gran pertinencia social. Este estudio sustenta que el ámbito académico de la educación superior presenta un papel protagónico para inducir los hábitos y las aptitudes lectoras en los estudiantes. A través de situaciones polémicas, se incentiva la investigación como manera de desarrollar las capacidades necesarias para, una vez graduados, los estudiantes estén dotados de los conocimientos y las herramientas necesarias para transformar la sociedad., haciendo altamente pertinente su perfil profesional para el cual fue preparado(AU)

Poor reading habits of students who reach higher education not only affects their general culture but also has a significant impact on their research skills; for example, they show lack of interest in research, sometimes with little innovation or critical thinking capacities, and even at the reflective level, which limits their proactive role. Thus, the present article aimed to reflect on the implementation of conscious strategies to encourage reading comprehension in students entering higher education. Topics related to reading comprehension and research skills were addressed, while their relationship with teaching was established, through didactic techniques that would encourage students to use reflective reading and research on topics of great social relevance. This study sustains that the academic field of higher education plays a leading role in inducing reading habits and skills in students. Through controversial situations, research is encouraged as a way to develop the necessary skills so that, once they graduate, students are endowed with the knowledge and tools necessary to transform society, making their professional profile highly relevant, for which they were prepared(AU)

Undergraduate medical research in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries: a descriptive study of the students' perspective.

OBJECTIVE: There is a lack of research-oriented physicians in several Arab countries and especially in Gulf region countries. In this context, it is important to explore medical students' perceptions and motivations towards research. The aim of the present study was to investigate research attitude, practices, and motivations among medical students from GCC countries. RESULTS: There were 228 students who participated in this study (male 88, females 140). Thirty-eight percent of the students were participating from Saudi Arabia, 20.6% from the UAE, 17.1% from Oman, 12.7% from Kuwait and 11.4% from Bahrain. Among participants, 43.0% had experience of funded research, and 53.1% had a contribution to research. The confidence of participants in their ability to interpret and to write a research paper was quite high (70.2%). The majority of the students (87.3%) believed that undergraduate students could conduct research and can present at conferences. Improving research skills, attaining research publication, and improvement in patient care were claimed as the top three motives for conducting research. The majority (75.0%) were compelled to research to facilitate their acceptance to a residency program and 63.6% due to compulsion for a research methodology course.

Reflection on the new training model of the research-oriented graduates in affiliated hospitals of medical universities / 中华医学教育探索杂志

The amount of the research-oriented graduates is increasing in affiliated hospitals of medical universities.To create an effective training model can not only help students to succeed but also contribute great to the research level of hospitals.In this study,we summarized our experience,such as individualized teaching,the unity of thinking and performing,words and deeds as well as unity of clinic and research on the formation of research ideas,attitudes and styles.Based on our experiences we hope to provide meaningful methods for the training of medical graduates.