Describing the Breadth and Scope of Keck Medical Student Primary Care Research Projects

Primary care research is an important field of study within medicine, but little research has characterized medical students' projects on this topic. Second-year medical students at the Keck School of Medicine (KSOM) of University of Southern California are required to complete a research project on a topic of their choice. This study seeks to describe the scope of primary care medical student research conducted by KSOM medical students and specifically Primary Care Program (PCP) pipeline students. The PCP consists of students with a vested interest in primary care, and who we hypothesize are more likely to complete a primary care project.

To assess students' primary care (PC) research output, we reviewed and sorted 1,408 KSOM abstracts between 2014 and 2020 into PC or non-PC. PC projects were then recategorized into more specific PC topics. χ² analysis determined significance at P<.05.

We reviewed abstracts from 1,408 KSOM medical students (n=122 PCP; 1,286 non-PCP). Results revealed that the number of PC research projects conducted by 122 PCP students (67.2%, n=82) was statistically significantly higher than by 1,286 non-PCP students (14.7%, n=189, P<.00001). The most common PC research topics (n= 271) were education (patient/medical, n=71, 26%), health diversity/disparities (n=60, 22%), mental health/psychiatry/behavioral science (n=58, 21%), and community medicine (n=48, 18%).

Our study describes the breadth and scope of Keck medical student PC research. Supporting PC research efforts by medical students may increase the proportion of students conducting PC research, students choosing PC careers, and faculty producing PC scholarship.