RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: The importance of undergraduate research (UR) to students is well acknowledged in literature; however, little is known about its perceived barriers. The aim of study is to explore the perceived barriers toward participation in UR activities among students at Alfaisal University-College of Medicine, Saudi Arabia. METHODS: An online, anonymous, cross-sectional, self-rating survey was administered. A two-tailed Mann-Whitney U-test was used to compare the average five-point Likert scale responses between male and female students. RESULTS: Two-hundred and twenty-one students (n = 221/350) participated in the survey with a 63.1% response rate. The percentage of participation in UR significantly differed by gender (males vs. females: 68.6% vs. 45.4%; p < 0.0005, Chi-square test). The top three barriers toward participation in UR were "lack of time" (77.4%), "lack of formal UR courses in curriculum" (76%) and "lack of UR mentors" (70.1%). Statistically significant differences of means were identified between male and female students regarding the following statements: "lack of supervising research mentors" (p < 0.01), "lack of interest in research" (p < 0.04), "lack of finding same-gender research mentor" (p < 0.00) and "lack of UR opportunities" (p < 0.00). CONCLUSION: Our results were fairly comparable to the Western studies. Medical educators should carefully look into all UR barriers and consider implementing applicable solutions.
Asunto(s)
Investigación Biomédica/organización & administración , Educación de Pregrado en Medicina/organización & administración , Estudiantes de Medicina/psicología , Estudios Transversales , Femenino , Humanos , Masculino , Mentores , Motivación , Arabia Saudita , Factores SexualesRESUMEN
AIMS: (1) To explore correlations between medical students' participation in undergraduate research (UR) activities and their characteristics, and (2) to explore students' perceived influential factors toward participation in UR activities at Alfaisal University-College of Medicine, Saudi Arabia. METHODS: An online, anonymous, cross-sectional, self-rating survey was administered. Chi-square test was used to correlate between participation in UR activities and students' characteristics (age, academic year and grade point average [GPA]). Two-tailed Mann-Whitney U-test was used to compare the mean 5-point Likert scale responses between students with and without previous UR activities. RESULTS: About 218 students participated in the survey (n = 218/350; response rate: 62.3%). The top three influential factors to undertake UR activities were "facilitate entry into competitive residency programs," (88.1%) "improve curriculum vitae" (81.2%) and "publish in peer-reviewed journals" (79.8%). Percentage of participation in previous UR activities significantly differed by gender (p < 0.03825), academic year (p < 0.000003) and GPA (p < 0.02627). Students who had previous UR activities were more positively influenced to participate in future UR activities than those who did not (p < 0.0488). CONCLUSION: Students demonstrated positive attitudes toward UR activities. The relationships between participation in UR activities and male gender, increased number of years spent at medical college and higher GPA were directly proportional.
Asunto(s)
Investigación Biomédica , Educación de Pregrado en Medicina , Estudiantes de Medicina/psicología , Estudios Transversales , Femenino , Historia del Siglo XVI , Humanos , Masculino , Percepción , Arabia Saudita , Factores SexualesRESUMEN
Engaging medical students in scholarly research activities and producing clinically competent and research-oriented medical workforces are essential demands, particularly in developing countries. Dual-degree MD-PhD programs offer simultaneous rigorous education in medicine and research, and train its graduates (physician-scientists) to successfully catalyze translational research evolutions. Literature fundamentally identifies dual-degree MD-PhD programs as the single most important, well-established, popular and influential programs toward commencing physician-scientist professions. While the physician-scientist population is alarmingly vanishing in the West with ongoing efforts to reverse this undesired trend, such population is largely nonexisting, unfortunately to start with, in Saudi Arabia. This is simply because no single dual-degree MBBS-PhD program is yet established in Saudi Arabia. Herein, we call on the Saudi Higher Education bodies to implement dual-degree MBBS-PhD programs with anticipated generation of competent physician-scientists in Saudi Arabia. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first ever report to call for such innovative implementation.
Asunto(s)
Investigación Biomédica/educación , Educación de Postgrado/organización & administración , Facultades de Medicina/organización & administración , Selección de Profesión , Humanos , Arabia Saudita , Estudiantes de MedicinaRESUMEN
BACKGROUND: There are numerous national efforts to determine and develop research priorities of medical education in Saudi Arabia. These priorities were first proposed in 2010 by "Dr Al-Khuli's Chair for Developing Medical Education in Saudi Arabia". The proposed priority domains were: curriculum, students, faculty, and quality assurance and accreditation. AIM: To investigate publications in medical education at the national and international levels in areas relating to these proposed priorities. METHODS: Electronic search within PubMed database for papers relating to each domain of priority was conducted at national and international levels in the last three years, using the same keywords as the priority domains, but only confined to undergraduate medical education. RESULTS: Out of 3145 articles retrieved when searching with keyword as broad as "undergraduate medical curriculum" only 81 articles worldwide and 3 articles from Saudi Arabia were dealing with curriculum related issues as a whole. Further search on the sub-domains "effective strategies to manage undergraduate curriculum" and "undergraduate medical education models", resulted in the retrieval of few articles worldwide and none from Saudi Arabia. At the national level, there were 63 publications from Saudi Arabia that were either course (topic)-specific or could not be classified under the four domains specified by Dr Al-Khuli's Chair. CONCLUSION: Research activities in medical education in Saudi Arabia in the last 3 years showed diversity and lack of focus in the research priorities. Efforts of academic and research centers should continue to monitor and encourage these activities toward achieving the recommended priorities.