Perceived barriers to research in undergraduate medicine

Dear Sir

The 2005 Walport report described the ‘perilous state of academic medicine in the UK’ and recommended that the attractions of research and academic medicine should be better promoted to medical students. Some opportunities for research do currently exist within UK undergraduate medical curricula, in the form of student-selected components and optional intercalated degrees undertaken by a third of students (McManus et al. 1999).

At two recent independent national undergraduate research conferences in Edinburgh and London, we distributed questionnaires to identify student-perceived barriers to undertaking research at UK medical schools. The cohort, representing 21 out of the 32 UK medical schools, recognised a number of issues as barriers to carrying out research projects. Of the students attending these conferences who completed questionnaires, 86% (87/101) expressed interest in a future career in academic medicine.

The two main issues identified as barriers were a lack of time alongside clinical teaching (41.6%, 42/101) and a lack of awareness of opportunities to get involved in projects (38.6%, 39/101). Thus, although the students attending these conferences obviously had found such opportunities to undertake research, there is concern amongst this same group about the paucity of these opportunities. In addition, 5.9% (6/101) of respondents considered a lack of the necessary research skills to be the main barrier and 6.9% (7/101) considered it to be difficulty in organising projects. Interestingly, the main barrier identified by students at Scottish Universities was a lack of time (52.6%, 20/38) whereas students from England and Wales agreed the main barrier was a lack of knowledge about opportunities (47.6%, 20/42 and 43.8%, 7/16, respectively). Worryingly, 42.2% (27/64) of senior medical students identified a lack of awareness of opportunities as the main issue, indicating that current curricula may not promote research opportunities adequately.

In summary, we have identified a number of factors that medical students consider to be barriers to getting involved in research whilst at medical school and have highlighted a concern amongst students regarding the lack of opportunities to engage in research as an undergraduate. Given the findings of the Walport report, and the growing importance of biomedical research to the UK economy, it is vital these issues are addressed definitively. Initiatives should be established to raise awareness of research opportunities, ensure there is sufficient time to undertake projects and equip students with some of the skills needed. These factors should be considered by curriculum planners in the future, although it is of course important to ensure the correct balance between clinical competency and research experience.