Future physician-scientists: could we catch them young? Factors influencing intrinsic and extrinsic motivation for research among first-year medical students

Perspectives on Medical Education, Jul 2018

Introduction The medical field is currently facing a physician-scientist shortage. One possible solution is to direct medical students towards a research oriented career. To do so, knowledge is needed on how to motivate medical students to do research. Therefore, this study examines motivation for research and identifies factors influencing intrinsic and extrinsic motivation for research among first-year medical students. Methods First-year medical students were surveyed at the beginning of their bachelor’s program in 2016. On a 7-point Likert scale, students reported their motivation for research, self-efficacy, perceptions of research, curiosity, and need for challenge. Regression analyses were used to examine the influence of these factors on students’ motivation for research. Results Out of 316 approached students, 315 participated (99.7%). On average, students scored 5.49 on intrinsic, and 5.66 on extrinsic motivation for research. All factors measured influenced intrinsic and extrinsic motivation for research significantly and positively, also after adjusting for gender and age. Cumulative regression showed that these factors explained 39.6% of the variance in intrinsic, and 14% in extrinsic motivation for research. Discussion All factors play an important role in intrinsic and, to a lesser extent, extrinsic motivation for research. First-year medical students’ motivation for research could be enhanced by stimulating positive self-efficacy beliefs, positive perceptions of research, and curiosity. Also, it is important to fulfil students’ needs for challenge by stimulating them to actively conduct research. Thus, to catch students young and cultivate physician-scientists, students should be stimulated to engage in research from the beginning of medical training.

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Future physician-scientists: could we catch them young? Factors influencing intrinsic and extrinsic motivation for research among first-year medical students

Future physician-scientists: could we catch them young? Factors influencing intrinsic and extrinsic motivation for research among first-year medical students Belinda W. C. Ommering 0 1 2 Floris M. van Blankenstein 0 1 2 Cathelijn J. F. Waaijer 0 1 2 Friedo W. Dekker 0 1 2 0 Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Leiden University Medical Center , Leiden , The Netherlands 1 Department of Higher Education, Leiden University Graduate School of Teaching , Leiden , The Netherlands 2 Belinda W. C. Ommering Introduction The medical field is currently facing a physician-scientist shortage. One possible solution is to direct medical students towards a research oriented career. To do so, knowledge is needed on how to motivate medical students to do research. Therefore, this study examines motivation for research and identifies factors influencing intrinsic and extrinsic motivation for research among first-year medical students. Methods First-year medical students were surveyed at the beginning of their bachelor's program in 2016. On a 7-point Likert scale, students reported their motivation for research, self-efficacy, perceptions of research, curiosity, and need for challenge. Regression analyses were used to examine the influence of these factors on students' motivation for research. Results Out of 316 approached students, 315 participated (99.7%). On average, students scored 5.49 on intrinsic, and 5.66 on extrinsic motivation for research. All factors measured influenced intrinsic and extrinsic motivation for research significantly and positively, also after adjusting for gender and age. Cumulative regression showed that these factors explained 39.6% of the variance in intrinsic, and 14% in extrinsic motivation for research. Discussion All factors play an important role in intrinsic and, to a lesser extent, extrinsic motivation for research. First-year medical students' motivation for research could be enhanced by stimulating positive self-efficacy beliefs, positive perceptions of research, and curiosity. Also, it is important to fulfil students' needs for challenge by stimulating them to actively conduct research. Thus, to catch students young and cultivate physician-scientists, students should be stimulated to engage in research from the beginning of medical training. Undergraduate research; Motivation; Physician-scientists; Medical education What this paper adds This paper builds on existing literature that advocates engaging medical students in research to counteract the decline of physician-scientists. Studies focusing on motivating medical students for research are scarce, and mainly conThis paper received The Netherlands Association for Medical Education Best Research Paper Award 2017. Center for Innovation in Medical Education, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands centrate on clinical phases. Moreover, those studies often lack a sound theoretical framework. We used Self-Determination Theory to investigate motivation for research among first-year medical students. Our findings show that first-year medical students are already motivated for research and that their motivation is influenced by self-efficacy, perceptions of research, curiosity, and need for challenge. This offers possibilities to ‘catch students young’ and stimulate early engagement in research to cultivate physician-scientists. Introduction According to the Canadian Medical Education Directives for Specialists (CanMEDS), all doctors should be able to critically appraise and use research in clinical practice to form decisions and make a grounded diagnosis [ 1 ]. Furthermore, it is necessary for doctors to keep up with current developments within their field of expertise [ 2 ]. To use research and apply evidence-based practice doctors should be able to understand research [ 3–6 ]. Not only should all physicians use research, there is also a need for doctors to conduct research. Research can contribute to the creation of new knowledge, which is necessary to keep doctors up-to-date and to make progress in the dynamic world of medical healthcare [ 4, 5, 7 ]. Physicianscientists can bridge the gap between science and practice, by translating research outcomes into clinical settings [ 8–11 ]. Moreover, physician-scientists encounter actual relevant clinical questions and problems, which can serve as inspiration for scientific research [12]. Currently, there is a shortage in the number of physicianscientists, as too few doctors pursue a scientific career [ 1, 8, 11, 13–15 ]. In a recent review, Chang and Ramnanan stated that in Europe, the United States, and Canada, interest in research among physicians is still decreasing [1]. Milewicz and her colleagues published a report in 2015 showing that too few young physicians pursue a scientific career, stressing the urgent need to direct more physicians towards research [ 16 ]. To summarize, the medical field is developing rapidly, and consensus exists on the urge (...truncated)


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Belinda W. C. Ommering, Floris M. van Blankenstein, Cathelijn J. F. Waaijer, Friedo W. Dekker. Future physician-scientists: could we catch them young? Factors influencing intrinsic and extrinsic motivation for research among first-year medical students, Perspectives on Medical Education, 2018, pp. 1-8, DOI: 10.1007/s40037-018-0440-y