Assessment of the Research Interests and Perceptions of First-Year Medical Students at 4 Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine.

CONTEXT: There are limited data regarding the experiences of and attitudes toward research participation among osteopathic medical students despite rapidly increasing enrollment and expansion of the number of osteopathic medical schools. OBJECTIVE: To assess first-year osteopathic medical students' experience with research, their interest in it, their perceptions of its value, and barriers to participation. METHODS: An anonymous, online survey was sent to 868 medical students in the class of 2021 at 4 colleges of osteopathic medicine. The survey consisted of 14 multiple-choice items (7 of which offered the option of a written response) and 1 open-ended item that asked them to report their age. The survey remained open for 2 weeks, with 1 reminder email sent on the last day of the survey. Incomplete responses were excluded from the analysis. RESULTS: A total of 328 participants were included, for a response rate of 38%. A majority of respondents reported previous research experience (261 [79.6%]), consistent with a strong perception that research participation is important (315 [96.0%]). Fewer students (177 [54.0%]) were either currently participating in research or affirmed interest in performing research during medical school, with the highest level of interest in clinical research (259 [79.0%]) followed by basic science (166 [50.6%]). Regarding incentives that might encourage participation in research, students preferred monetary compensation (213 [64.9%]) or extra credit in courses (195 [59.5%]). A commonly reported barrier to performing research during medical school was the possibility of a negative impact on performance in coursework (289 [88.1%]). CONCLUSION: First-year osteopathic medical students are interested in research, view research experience as valuable, and consider research experience as beneficial to future career development. This study's findings highlight opportunities for increasing student participation in research through incentives or removal of perceived barriers.

Preemptive and Preventive Pain Psychoeducation and Its Potential Application as a Multimodal Perioperative Pain Control Option: A Systematic Review.

The common treatment for postoperative pain is prescription opioids. Yet, these drugs have limited effect in preventing chronic pain from surgical intervention and have in part contributed to the opioid epidemic. Recently, preemptive analgesia and multimodal analgesia have been proposed with widely gained acceptance in addressing the pain issues. However, both analgesic approaches have been focused on pharmacological means while completely neglecting the psychological aspect. To address this epidemic, we have conducted a systematic review of preoperative educational methods to explore its application as both a preemptive and a preventive psychological approach to decrease postsurgical pain and improve outcome. Preemptive psychoeducation occurs before surgery and would include information about regional or neuraxial analgesia, while preventive psychoeducation occurs throughout the perioperative period. The content and presentation of preemptive psychoeducation can help patients form accurate expectations and address their concerns of surgical outcome, leading to a significant decrease in patients' anxiety levels. By addressing the psychological needs of patients through preoperative education, one can decrease postoperative recovery time and postsurgical acute pain. Reduced postsurgical acute pain results in fewer opioid prescriptions, which theoretically lowers the patient's risk of developing chronic postsurgical pain (CPSP), and potentially offers a novel concept using preemptive pain psychoeducation as a part of multimodal pain management solution to the opioid epidemic.