Association of completing an intercalated year-long research degree with post-graduation academic success

There is a paucity of data regarding the long-term outcomes of research intercalation during under-graduate medical studies, and the long-term academic effects it can have for such students. This study aimed to investigate the associations with longer-term academic success for students who undertook a BMedSc(Hons) degree intercalated within a medical degree.

The study used a matched cohort design. Cases were medical students who completed a BMedSc(Hons) degree at our institution between 1995 and 2006; controls were matched for gender and graduation year. Our primary outcome was the association of completing a BMedSc(Hons) with three academic success variables: quantity of post-graduation peer-reviewed publications, completion of higher academic degrees, and attainment of faculty/academic positions post-graduation.

We found that students completing a BMedSc(Hons) were more than seven times as likely to have at least one peer-reviewed journal publication post-graduation compared with matched controls (77.7% vs. 37.2%, OR 7.3 (CI: 3.13-13.17.21), P < 0.001). They were also more likely to have a greater number of publications (n = 577 vs. n = 140), more likely to complete a higher academic degree (18.1% vs. 6.4%, OR 3.2 (CI: 1.17-8.74), P = 0.023) including a PhD (13.8% vs. 1.1%, OR 13.0 (CI: 1.70-99.38), P = 0.013), but they were not significantly more likely to attain a faculty position (17% vs. 11.7%, OR 1.6 (CI: 0.67-3.59), P = 0.301).

Medical students completing a research degree go on to have successful academic careers. We hypothesize that building research networks early in a student's career is associated with their ability to participate in research in the future, although attaining faculty/academic positions may be influenced by other factors.