Medical students in search of research?

Dear Sir

Advances in biomedical research over the last decades have highlighted the need to attract larger number of physicians to careers that include research (Houlden et al. 2004). In particular, physician participation in research is essential to increase the number of clinical and research studies performed. Consequently, it is important to make students aware of the relevance of research during their medical training and encourage them to participate in it (Reinders et al. 2005).

According to the literature, there is a lack of information on the awareness, perceptions and attitudes of medical students in the Middle East and the Gulf Region with respect to research. Furthermore, there is a similar lack of data on the factors that lead a medical student to decide to pursue a research career.

We evaluated student awareness of research opportunities in the College of Medicine of King Khalid University. We asked all 590 undergraduate students studying medicine in the academic year 2010/11 to complete a questionnaire. With a response rate of 93% (346 male and 202 female), this questionnaire assessed student perceptions and attitudes towards medical research. The factors determining a student's willingness to take up a research career were also analyzed. The questionnaire contained a combination of Yes/No questions and items which asked for a response on a Likert scale ranging from 1 (not very significant) to 5 (very significant).

The majority (55%) of the participants felt that research in the field of medicine is important; however, only 49% felt that research would be their future career choice. The greatest barriers to getting involved in research during medical study were the lack of time, availability of research mentors, and formal training in research methodology. The students’ opinions about the attractiveness of research as a career (status, financially) were low.

This study shows that although medical students are interested in research, they face difficulties in doing research and hence are less enthusiastic in seeking a research career. Financial incentives would help motivate medical students to pursue a research career.