The attitudes of medical students to research
<p style="text-align:justify;"> <b>BACKGROUND:</b> The workforce of 'physician-scientists' is ageing and decreasing in numbers. The responsibility to combat this trend rests on future generations of healthcare professionals and it is therefore valuable to evalu...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Formato: | Journal article |
| Idioma: | English |
| Publicado em: |
Health and Medical Publishing Group
2013
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| _version_ | 1826289936436822016 |
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| author | Nel, D Burman, R Hoffman, R Randera-Rees, S |
| author_facet | Nel, D Burman, R Hoffman, R Randera-Rees, S |
| author_sort | Nel, D |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | <p style="text-align:justify;"> <b>BACKGROUND:</b> The workforce of 'physician-scientists' is ageing and decreasing in numbers. The responsibility to combat this trend rests on future generations of healthcare professionals and it is therefore valuable to evaluate medical students' attitudes towards research.<br/><br/> <b>OBJECTIVE:</b> To establish the attitudes of University of Cape Town (UCT) medical students towards research and to investigate the factors influencing these attitudes.<br/><br/> <b>METHODS:</b> An anonymous, cross-sectional, self-administered questionnaire was administered to medical students from years 1 to 6 studying medicine at UCT in 2011. Questions were primarily closed-ended and consisted of Likert scales.<br/><br/> <b>RESULTS:</b> Out of a population of 1 195 medical students, 733 were sampled (63%); 65% were female, 53% were preclinical students (years 1 - 3) and 47% were in their clinical years (year 4 - 6). Overall, 61% of students had a positive attitude towards research and 74% felt that participation in research was important to their medical school education; 22% had been involved in voluntarily extracurricular research, 4% had presented at a scientific meeting and 3% had published in peer-reviewed journals. A number of perceived barriers to student research were identified including a lack of adequate training, time and research opportunities.<br/><br/> <b>CONCLUSION:</b> Students believed that research was important and had a positive attitude towards it. However, few had been involved in voluntary research and produced work worthy of presentation and/or publication. Addressing identified barriers and improving students' attitudes may begin to reverse the trend in declining numbers of physician-scientists. </p> |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T02:36:31Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:a8f664d5-5caa-41d3-b25f-aeafeab88b3c |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T02:36:31Z |
| publishDate | 2013 |
| publisher | Health and Medical Publishing Group |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:a8f664d5-5caa-41d3-b25f-aeafeab88b3c2022-03-27T03:05:14ZThe attitudes of medical students to researchJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:a8f664d5-5caa-41d3-b25f-aeafeab88b3cEnglishSymplectic Elements at OxfordHealth and Medical Publishing Group2013Nel, DBurman, RHoffman, RRandera-Rees, S <p style="text-align:justify;"> <b>BACKGROUND:</b> The workforce of 'physician-scientists' is ageing and decreasing in numbers. The responsibility to combat this trend rests on future generations of healthcare professionals and it is therefore valuable to evaluate medical students' attitudes towards research.<br/><br/> <b>OBJECTIVE:</b> To establish the attitudes of University of Cape Town (UCT) medical students towards research and to investigate the factors influencing these attitudes.<br/><br/> <b>METHODS:</b> An anonymous, cross-sectional, self-administered questionnaire was administered to medical students from years 1 to 6 studying medicine at UCT in 2011. Questions were primarily closed-ended and consisted of Likert scales.<br/><br/> <b>RESULTS:</b> Out of a population of 1 195 medical students, 733 were sampled (63%); 65% were female, 53% were preclinical students (years 1 - 3) and 47% were in their clinical years (year 4 - 6). Overall, 61% of students had a positive attitude towards research and 74% felt that participation in research was important to their medical school education; 22% had been involved in voluntarily extracurricular research, 4% had presented at a scientific meeting and 3% had published in peer-reviewed journals. A number of perceived barriers to student research were identified including a lack of adequate training, time and research opportunities.<br/><br/> <b>CONCLUSION:</b> Students believed that research was important and had a positive attitude towards it. However, few had been involved in voluntary research and produced work worthy of presentation and/or publication. Addressing identified barriers and improving students' attitudes may begin to reverse the trend in declining numbers of physician-scientists. </p> |
| spellingShingle | Nel, D Burman, R Hoffman, R Randera-Rees, S The attitudes of medical students to research |
| title | The attitudes of medical students to research |
| title_full | The attitudes of medical students to research |
| title_fullStr | The attitudes of medical students to research |
| title_full_unstemmed | The attitudes of medical students to research |
| title_short | The attitudes of medical students to research |
| title_sort | attitudes of medical students to research |
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