Implementation of a Longitudinal Mentored Scholarly Project: An Approach at Two Medical Schools

Abstract

An increasing number of medical schools have implemented or are considering implementing scholarly activity programs as part of their undergraduate medical curricula. The goal of these programs is to foster students' analytical skills, enhance their self-directed learning and their oral and written communication skills, and ultimately to train better physicians. In this article, the authors describe the approach to implementing scholarly activities at a school that requires this activity and at a school where it is elective. Both programs have dealt with significant challenges including orienting students to a complex activity that is fundamentally different than traditional medical school courses and clerkships, helping both students and their mentors understand how to "stay on track" and complete work, especially during the third and fourth years, and educating students and mentors about the responsible conduct of research, especially involving human participants. Both schools have found the implementation process to be evolutionary, requiring experience before faculty could significantly improve processes. A required scholarly activity has highlighted the need for information technology (IT) support, including Web-based document storage and student updates, as well as automatic e-mails alerting supervisory individuals to student activity. Directors of the elective program have found difficulty with both ensuring uniform outcomes across different areas of study and leadership changes in a process that has been largely student-driven. Both programs have found that teamwork, regular meetings, and close communication have helped with implementation. Schools considering the establishment of a scholarly activity should consider these factors when designing programs.

Student Scientific Inquiry in the Core Doctor of Pharmacy Curriculum: Critical Issues in Designing and Implementing a Student Research Program

“…Alternatively, an institution may opt for a step-wise approach: the research elective model may prove useful in pilot-testing the research program's suitability for their institution, and in allowing time to build and consolidate various elective courses before making the commitment to a full, school-wide research requirement. Several successful programs have shown that such an approach can be beneficial 3 .…”

“…While the elective approach has certain benefits (highly motivated students and faculty, less burden on institutional resources, faculty, curricular time, logistics) it would result in only a portion of students producing scholarly output. Such an elective program or track may result in an unintentional two-tier system with potential negative perceptions among students 3 . Additionally, student enrollment in research electives is low, less than 10% in most institutions 7 .…”

“…Student-driven research is credited with significant learning [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] and professional 9,10 benefits. Professional organizations consistently encourage research content in school curricula.…”

“…Medical education, with student research experience ranging from 5 to 40 and even 173 years 3,5,17,18 , has generated considerable published information and exchange of ideas in the medical community. The natural history and extensive analyses of such experiences proved rich in "lessons learned".…”

Should Research be Made Compulsory in Medical School?

“…Also, different universities have different courses regarding to research activities in the United States [9][10][11].…”