Medical students' research - facilitators and barriers

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Research Methodology
• Undergraduate Studies

Background:

• Undergraduate research is crucial for exposing medical students to advancements and research practices.
• Faculty perceptions and training barriers for undergraduate medical research were assessed.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate medical faculty perceptions of undergraduate research.
• To identify barriers encountered in training medical undergraduates for research.

Main Methods:

• A questionnaire assessed perceptions and barriers among 105 medical faculty.
• Responses were collected on a five-point Likert scale and analyzed using SPSS v11.5.

Main Results:

• 95.1% of faculty agreed students are interested in research; 90.2% believe students gained design, conduct, presentation, and publication skills.
• Key barriers included time consumption (37.7%) and lack of student motivation (19.7%). Faculty time constraints were a major barrier to guidance (39.0%).
• 62.7% suggested incentives and 61.8% recommended frequent workshops to encourage participation.

Conclusions:

• Addressing faculty workload and conducting regular research methodology workshops are recommended to enhance undergraduate research standards.
• Implementing incentives for students and faculty can foster a more robust research environment.