Research among undergraduate biomedical students in Cameroon: contextual barriers, room for improvement

Ngeh, Etienne Ngeh

doi:10.11604/pamj.2019.33.149.18807

Cited by 11 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…Other barriers, such as lack of mentors and lack of funds, identified in this study are indicative of limited institutional research infrastructure, which mirror previous findings in similar studies in other LMICs [11][12][13][14]. Students may be unable to do research projects on their own but if they are in a supportive learning environment where research opportunities are available, the threshold to engage in research could be lowered [14].…”

Section: Suggestions Of What Can Be Done To Improve Research Involvementsupporting

confidence: 78%

“…Moreover, engaging students in research can be mutually beneficial, providing teaching opportunities for mentors, the possibility of increased academic output for the university in question, and creates local evidence that can be used to guide health policy [7][8][9]. However, students in medicine and health sciences in LMICs face several barriers to research involvement including the lack of knowledge and lack of time, as well as institutional barriers such as lack of mentoring, limited database access, and lack of funding [10][11][12][13][14][15]. Undergraduate students' research involvement varies across universities and is associated with several factors including male gender, completing degrees in specific disciplines, and having previously completed a curricular research project [16].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Exploring factors associated with research involvement of undergraduate students at the College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Rwanda

2021

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Background Early involvement of students in research processes is an important step in professional development and can increase the academic output of the university. Previous studies indicate low research involvement amongst undergraduate students, however limited research has been done in sub-Saharan Africa. This study aimed to describe the level of research involvement amongst undergraduate students at the College of Medicine and Health Sciences (CMHS) at University of Rwanda (UR) and to assess factors associated with research involvement. Methods This cross-sectional study covered the three CMHS campuses. A survey was shared in class WhatsApp groups from July to September 2020. Data were analyzed using Stata IC 16.0 with descriptive statistics and Fisher’s exact test. P-values < 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Results In total, 324 students participated with the mean age being 23.3 (standard deviation 2.27). Males constituted 65.1% of respondents vs. 33.3% females. The largest portion of respondents were from the School of Medicine and Pharmacy (46.6%), and Medicine was the most frequent department (33.3%). On a Likert scale from 1 to 10, 60.0% of the respondents thought that research was 10/10 important for undergraduate students, with the mean value being 8.8. Rating their interest in taking part in research during undergraduate studies, 48.2% scored it 10/10, with the mean value being 8.57. 80.3% of respondents had attended a research module, course, or workshop; however, only 48.8% had participated in a research project and 72.0% of them had been involved in data collection. Inadequate knowledge about research processes and lack of mentors were the main barriers to research participation in 48.0 and 40.2% of respondents respectively. Establishment of a UR-Undergraduate research support center (77.2%), and involving students in ongoing UR projects (69.4%) were the most frequent suggestions to improve students’ research participation. Conclusion Undergraduate students at the CMHS in the UR have a large research interest, yet their involvement is currently low. Limited knowledge about research processes and shortage of mentors remains potent barriers to participation. Inviting undergraduate students to partake in ongoing projects and establishing a UR undergraduate research support center are recommended to strengthen undergraduate research experience at the UR-CMHS.

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Section: Suggestions Of What Can Be Done To Improve Research Involvementsupporting

confidence: 78%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring factors associated with research involvement of undergraduate students at the College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Rwanda

2021

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“…Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has continued to suffer the world’s biggest burden of disease and mortality. This has been linked to its suboptimal quality of health care delivery, which is fueled by insufficient research evidence [ 16 ]. Evidence can only be derived through carrying out high standard quality research to generate local data based on common health problems that can be used to inform guidance [ 16 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Research involvement among undergraduate health profession students in a resource-limited setting: awareness, attitude, motivators and barriers

et al. 2022

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Background Involvement of undergraduate health professions students (HPS) in research will facilitate evidence-based clinical practice among future healthcare practitioners. This study aimed to assess research involvement among undergraduate HPS students and associated factors in Uganda. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted using an online assessment tool sent through WhatsApp groups and E-mail addresses of HPS in 12 medical schools in Uganda between 20th September and 5th October 2021. Results We enrolled 398 participants with a mean age of 23.9 ± 3.7 years. Of this, 267 (67.1%) were male. One hundred twenty (30.2%) participants previously participated in a research activity: 90 (58.4%) as research assistants, 39 (25.3%) published as first authors, and 25 (16.2%) as co-authors. Training on the conduct of research was received by 242 (65.8%) participants, and 326 (81.9%) had intentions of conducting research in the future. Factors influencing participation in research activities were, age ≥ 25 years (adjusted odds ratio (aOR): 1.9, 95% confidence interval (95% CI): 1.2–3.2, p = 0.012), being male (aOR: 2.1, 95%CI: 1.2–3.6, p = 0.008), and being in a clinical year i.e., year 3 (aOR: 3.2, 95% CI: 1.1–9.3, p = 0.033), year 4 (aOR: 3.3, 95% CI: 1.1–9.5, p = 0.028) and year 5(aOR: 11.6, 95% CI: 3.2–42.1, p < 0.001). Lack of funds (79.6%), and mentorship (63.3%) were reported as major barriers to research. Conclusions Despite a high proportion of HPS showing interest in getting involved in research, less than one-third reported previous involvement. Addressing barriers such as funding could potentially improve research involvement and output among undergraduate HPS in resource-limited settings.

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“…Observed in these institutions are outdated and under-resourced library stocks, lack of computers, poor internet, and e-libraries limiting access to research literature. 1,16 Good research questions, protocols, appraisal, and review of current literature are unrealizable without easy access to the literature. On the other hand, only 1.8% of the total projects were laboratory-based researches.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of the Undergraduate Pharmacy Student Research Projects in Ambo University, Ethiopia: Retrospective Review

Gebremariam¹,

Gadisa²

2021

AMEP

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Research among undergraduate biomedical students in Cameroon: contextual barriers, room for improvement

Cited by 11 publications

References 6 publications

Exploring factors associated with research involvement of undergraduate students at the College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Rwanda

Exploring factors associated with research involvement of undergraduate students at the College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Rwanda

Research involvement among undergraduate health profession students in a resource-limited setting: awareness, attitude, motivators and barriers

Evaluation of the Undergraduate Pharmacy Student Research Projects in Ambo University, Ethiopia: Retrospective Review

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