Motivating Factors of and Perceived Barriers to Research at a Canadian Medical University with Regional Campuses: A Cross-Sectional Survey Study
Introduction Research training programs are an integral part of a well-rounded medical education. These programs help students contribute to medical knowledge, develop skills in critical evaluation and research dissemination, and they facilitate the training of our future medical researchers. Exi...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing
2021-10-01
|
| Series: | Journal of Regional Medical Campuses |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://pubs.lib.umn.edu/index.php/jrmc/article/view/3934 |
| _version_ | 1818888767984893952 |
|---|---|
| author | Jennifer Leigh Maroof Khalid Jennifer Tsang |
| author_facet | Jennifer Leigh Maroof Khalid Jennifer Tsang |
| author_sort | Jennifer Leigh |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Introduction
Research training programs are an integral part of a well-rounded medical education. These programs help students contribute to medical knowledge, develop skills in critical evaluation and research dissemination, and they facilitate the training of our future medical researchers. Existing literature suggests barriers including lack of available time and access to projects may hinder a medical student’s research training. These barriers likely differ based on the medical school curriculum, and there exists limited data looking at these attitudes in Canadian students, students outside large academic centers or those in condensed programs. Given this, our study aims to further explore medical students' perceptions, perceived barriers of research in a three-year Canadian undergraduate medical school with regional campuses.
Methods
We conducted a cross-sectional survey of medical students (classes of 2019, 2020 and 2021) representing the main and regional campuses of the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine in Ontario, Canada to explore their attitudes towards research. Descriptive statistics were used to describe participant demographics, research background and attitudes towards research.
Results
Overall, 70.4% of students identified as being involved in a research project at some point during their medical school tenure. Motivating factors for research participation included the goal of obtaining a residency spot (63.0%), and interest in their research topic (74.7%). Barriers to research included perceived lack of available time (31.5%), and difficulty in finding a research project (44.5%). Perceived curriculum deficiencies included lack of education in research methodology and appraisal of scientific literature (93.2% and 89.0%, respectively). Lastly, regional campuses tended conduct their research outside of their home campus (43.6% vs 3.3%, p<0.0001).
Conclusion
The findings from our study highlighted the students’ attitudes towards research in a Canadian medical school that has multiple campuses and a shortened medical curriculum (3-year). It identifies potential areas of improvement from a student perspective, which can hopefully be utilized by medical educators to continue the improvement of medical trainee research training. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-19T16:58:22Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-7a257a73c6694aff8f2299fefcebaf9e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2576-5558 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-19T16:58:22Z |
| publishDate | 2021-10-01 |
| publisher | University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Regional Medical Campuses |
| spelling | doaj.art-7a257a73c6694aff8f2299fefcebaf9e2022-12-21T20:13:22ZengUniversity of Minnesota Libraries PublishingJournal of Regional Medical Campuses2576-55582021-10-014310.24926/jrmc.v4i3.3934Motivating Factors of and Perceived Barriers to Research at a Canadian Medical University with Regional Campuses: A Cross-Sectional Survey StudyJennifer Leigh0Maroof KhalidJennifer TsangThe Ottawa HospitalIntroduction Research training programs are an integral part of a well-rounded medical education. These programs help students contribute to medical knowledge, develop skills in critical evaluation and research dissemination, and they facilitate the training of our future medical researchers. Existing literature suggests barriers including lack of available time and access to projects may hinder a medical student’s research training. These barriers likely differ based on the medical school curriculum, and there exists limited data looking at these attitudes in Canadian students, students outside large academic centers or those in condensed programs. Given this, our study aims to further explore medical students' perceptions, perceived barriers of research in a three-year Canadian undergraduate medical school with regional campuses. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional survey of medical students (classes of 2019, 2020 and 2021) representing the main and regional campuses of the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine in Ontario, Canada to explore their attitudes towards research. Descriptive statistics were used to describe participant demographics, research background and attitudes towards research. Results Overall, 70.4% of students identified as being involved in a research project at some point during their medical school tenure. Motivating factors for research participation included the goal of obtaining a residency spot (63.0%), and interest in their research topic (74.7%). Barriers to research included perceived lack of available time (31.5%), and difficulty in finding a research project (44.5%). Perceived curriculum deficiencies included lack of education in research methodology and appraisal of scientific literature (93.2% and 89.0%, respectively). Lastly, regional campuses tended conduct their research outside of their home campus (43.6% vs 3.3%, p<0.0001). Conclusion The findings from our study highlighted the students’ attitudes towards research in a Canadian medical school that has multiple campuses and a shortened medical curriculum (3-year). It identifies potential areas of improvement from a student perspective, which can hopefully be utilized by medical educators to continue the improvement of medical trainee research training.https://pubs.lib.umn.edu/index.php/jrmc/article/view/3934Regional campusMedical schoolresearchbarriers |
| spellingShingle | Jennifer Leigh Maroof Khalid Jennifer Tsang Motivating Factors of and Perceived Barriers to Research at a Canadian Medical University with Regional Campuses: A Cross-Sectional Survey Study Journal of Regional Medical Campuses Regional campus Medical school research barriers |
| title | Motivating Factors of and Perceived Barriers to Research at a Canadian Medical University with Regional Campuses: A Cross-Sectional Survey Study |
| title_full | Motivating Factors of and Perceived Barriers to Research at a Canadian Medical University with Regional Campuses: A Cross-Sectional Survey Study |
| title_fullStr | Motivating Factors of and Perceived Barriers to Research at a Canadian Medical University with Regional Campuses: A Cross-Sectional Survey Study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Motivating Factors of and Perceived Barriers to Research at a Canadian Medical University with Regional Campuses: A Cross-Sectional Survey Study |
| title_short | Motivating Factors of and Perceived Barriers to Research at a Canadian Medical University with Regional Campuses: A Cross-Sectional Survey Study |
| title_sort | motivating factors of and perceived barriers to research at a canadian medical university with regional campuses a cross sectional survey study |
| topic | Regional campus Medical school research barriers |
| url | https://pubs.lib.umn.edu/index.php/jrmc/article/view/3934 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jenniferleigh motivatingfactorsofandperceivedbarrierstoresearchatacanadianmedicaluniversitywithregionalcampusesacrosssectionalsurveystudy AT maroofkhalid motivatingfactorsofandperceivedbarrierstoresearchatacanadianmedicaluniversitywithregionalcampusesacrosssectionalsurveystudy AT jennifertsang motivatingfactorsofandperceivedbarrierstoresearchatacanadianmedicaluniversitywithregionalcampusesacrosssectionalsurveystudy |