Research interest and activity among medical students in Gothenburg, Sweden, a cross-sectional study

Abstract

BackgroundThe proportion of physicians undertaking doctoral studies is decreasing. Early recruitment of medical students could counteract this trend. This follow-up survey investigated research interest and activity among medical students at the Sahlgrenska Academy, Gothenburg, Sweden.MethodsA questionnaire was administered to all medical students at the Sahlgrenska Academy, as a follow-up to a 2006 survey. The Mann-Whitney U test was used for ordinal variables and the Fisher exact test for categorical variables. Data from Statistics Sweden was used to analyse the number of PhDs awarded to individuals who earned a medical degree in 2000–2012.ResultsOf the students, 16 % were already conducting and another 36 % wanted to conduct research during their studies. The interest was at the same level compared to 2006. The main reasons for conducting research consisted of an interest in scientific problems or the research topic, a wish for personal development or intellectual stimulation. Students engaged in research reported lack of time, increased workload and less time to study as hindering factors.ConclusionsRecruitment could be improved by offering improved and regular information, clarifying career paths, broadly announcing available projects, and creating new and expanding existing research programmes. The potential for recruitment of Gothenburg medical students to research is substantial, but students are hampered by lack of time, lack of supervisors and lack of information.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12909-016-0749-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Correlation Between Demographic Perspective of PG Trainees and Research: A Cross-Sectional Multidisciplinary Study

“…24 Subsequent deficiency in research knowledge and skills of physicians could have negative effects on educational, clinical research and health care, shortening the translation of bridging between basics and clinical work. 27 This fact was confirmed in current study as our findings demonstrated inadequate skill and knowledge of research of the faculty as a main personal barrier towards research (p-0.011). On the other hand, 37.1% (n=157/423) participants of Amin TT realizes faculty low research knowledge and skill reduces their involvement in scientific activities.…”

“…2,29 Attractive stipend/scholarship, review/reformation of curriculum and trained and easy availability of supervisor/mentor, enrollment early in research of medical students have been recommended that can boost interest of under/postgraduate medical and dental students in scientific activities and assists undergraduate medical students to engage in research during their graduation which would make them able to conduct research easily in their post-graduation. 27 Medical and electronic data availability assist in discovering knowledge gap thus helps PG trainees to initiate their research work. The students cited bounded approach to the relevant medical and other electronic databases made them difficult to initiate their research activities.…”

Professional fulfillment and parenting work-life balance in female physicians in Basic Sciences and medical research: a nationwide cross-sectional survey of all 80 medical schools in Japan

“…The overwhelming majority of female physicians cited their interest in research as the reason for entering into a career of Basic Sciences. Given that motivations to choose medicine as a career path include an outstanding aptitude in medical science, a substantial work ethic, and a fervent desire to improve community health [ 23 , 40 ], these outcomes are an expected result. Female doctors join the many young professionals with families to seek work-life balance.…”

Medical Graduates’ Research Practices and Perceptions: A comparative cross-sectional study between 2015 and 2017 graduates of King Abdulaziz University

“…This finding could be explained by an increased awareness of the importance of involvement in research through the activities of student research units and the changes that occurred in the SCFHS criteria of admission into postgraduate programmes. It is worth noting that research involvement of both the 2015 and 2017 graduates is higher than other studies done in Sweden and Brazil 13,14. However, both of these studies were conducted on medical students, while our study was conducted on medical graduates, who had more time to be involved in research.…”