Adapting for sustainability: Ensuring provision of research skills development for undergraduate medical students

The Covid-19 pandemic forced undergraduate medical students and staff to adapt and adjust to new strategies for conducting research. The aim of this study was to investigate its impact on student research opportunities across Irish and UK medical schools and how these programmes have responded, both in terms of innovation and practical solutions.

A 17-item online mixed methods survey was distributed to academic staff across 31 Irish and UK medical schools. Participants were asked about (a) the effect of the pandemic on undergraduate research teaching and project opportunities, (b) measures taken to mitigate pandemic effects on these curricular elements. Descriptive analysis was used to summarise quantitative data, and free-text responses were thematically grouped.

We received a 66.74% (n = 21) response rate to our survey. Over 75% of respondents stated that the availability of clinical research, lab-based research, summer research programmes and QI/clinical audit projects was negatively impacted by Covid-19. Mitigation strategies included adaptation and adjustment in design of research projects; migration to online content delivery and collaborative platforms; virtualisation of research dissemination opportunities; increased workload for staff involved in delivery of research programmes; flexibility around assessment of research-based assignments; and importance of open communication.

Covid-19 has affected traditional clinical research opportunities for medical students, particularly patient-facing projects, as well as laboratory-based research options. Mitigation strategies included the introduction of time- and cost-efficient virtual data collection methods. Some of these innovations have potential for ongoing and future development, but others are short-term responsive solutions that may prove less sustainable.