A three-year mandatory student research program in an undergradute medical curriculum in Turkey


AKMAN M., ÜNALAN G. P., KALAÇA S., APAYDIN KAYA M. Ç., ÇİFÇİLİ S. S., UZUNER A.

Kuwait Medical Journal, cilt.42, sa.3, ss.205-210, 2010 (SCI-Expanded) identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 42 Sayı: 3
  • Basım Tarihi: 2010
  • Dergi Adı: Kuwait Medical Journal
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.205-210
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: Mentors, Research activities, Teaching methods
  • Marmara Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

Objective: To evaluate the seven-year experience of the mandatory undergraduate student research program of Marmara University School of Medicine, Turkey. Design: Retrospective. Setting: Marmara University School of Medicine, Turkey. Subjects: Undergraduate students (from Year I, II and III; n = 289), mentors (n = 54) and graduates (n = 30) were enrolled. They were all involved in a longitudinal, mandatory and interdisciplinary research program. Students conducted a project under the supervision of a mentor in small groups and every year they improved their research skills step-by-step around specific themes. Each year the program ended with the Marmara Student Congress (MaSCo), at which all projects were presented. Interventions: Student feedback evaluation, pre-prepared questionnaire filled by mentors and telephonic interview of randomly selected graduates. Main Outcome Measures: Number of projects presented in medical congresses, published in medical journals and feedback from students, mentors and graduates. Results: Between the years 2002 - 2007, students presented 467 research projects in MaSCo. Out of a total of 205, 2nd and 3rd year projects, 10 were published in international journals (4.87%) and nine (4.39%) in Turkish journals; 51(24.8%) were presented in national and 22 (10.1%) were presented in international congresses. Chi square trend analysis showed that students' satisfaction in all items of research activity increased from first to the third year. Sixty-three percent of graduates found undergraduate research activity beneficial. Conclusions: Research programs should be one of the components of undergraduate medical education. We recommend that such programs be mandatory to develop research skills step-by-step.