Using an Extracurricular Honors Program to Engage Future Physicians Into Scientific Research in Early Stages of Medical Training

Medical Science Educator, Apr 2018

Physician-scientists are urgently needed to make progress in the dynamic world of medical healthcare. Currently, there is a worldwide shortage in physicians pursuing a scientific career. Actively engaging students in research in early stages of medical training could help to direct students towards a scientific career and contribute to creating the next generation of physician-scientists. Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) implemented an extracurricular Honors program with a fundamental orientation towards research. The program starts in the second year of medical training and is comprised of four different tracks in order to attract multiple types of students with different interests. All four tracks offer students scholarly experiences, but differ in content and amount of provided structure. The LUMC Honors program has a clear goal to develop future physician-scientists, and combined with its unique multiple-track model, the program accommodates about 70 students (25%) each year. The number of students in the program has grown and students’ experiences are positive.

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Using an Extracurricular Honors Program to Engage Future Physicians Into Scientific Research in Early Stages of Medical Training

Using an Extracurricular Honors Program to Engage Future Physicians Into Scientific Research in Early Stages of Medical Training Belinda W. C. Ommering 0 1 2 3 Peter J. van den Elsen 0 1 2 3 Jolanda van der Zee 0 1 2 3 Carolina R. Jost 0 1 2 3 Friedo W. Dekker 0 1 2 3 0 Department of Molecular Cell Biology, Leiden University Medical Center , Leiden , the Netherlands 1 Department of Immunohematology and Blood Transfusion, Leiden University Medical Center , Leiden , the Netherlands 2 Center for Innovation in Medical Education, Leiden University Medical Center , Zone V7-P, PO Box 9600, 2300 RC Leiden , the Netherlands 3 Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Leiden University Medical Center , Leiden , the Netherlands Physician-scientists are urgently needed to make progress in the dynamic world of medical healthcare. Currently, there is a worldwide shortage in physicians pursuing a scientific career. Actively engaging students in research in early stages of medical training could help to direct students towards a scientific career and contribute to creating the next generation of physicianscientists. Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) implemented an extracurricular Honors program with a fundamental orientation towards research. The program starts in the second year of medical training and is comprised of four different tracks in order to attract multiple types of students with different interests. All four tracks offer students scholarly experiences, but differ in content and amount of provided structure. The LUMC Honors program has a clear goal to develop future physician-scientists, and combined with its unique multiple-track model, the program accommodates about 70 students (25%) each year. The number of students in the program has grown and students' experiences are positive. Honors; Extracurricular research program; Physician-scientists; Scholarly concentration Background The Canadian Medical Education Directives for Specialists (CanMEDS) distinguishes being able to use and being able to conduct research as two core competencies of a scholar [ 1 ]. A common belief in the medical field is that all physicians should be able to use research, which is important in forming evidence-based decisions and making a grounded diagnosis [ 2–5 ]. In order to integrate scientific knowledge in clinical decisions and to ensure that patients receive the best possible healthcare, physicians should be aware of the latest * developments in medicine. Being able to critically appraise scientific literature is key in the process of using research in daily clinical practice [6]. However, besides all physicians using research, physicians who actually conduct research are needed as well. These physicians are needed because it is important to create new knowledge to make progress in the demanding world of medical healthcare [ 3, 4, 6, 7 ]. Physicians combining clinical work with doing research in the medical context are called physician-scientists. Physician-scientists offer an opportunity to bridge the gap between science and clinical practice [ 8–10 ]. They have the opportunity to identify clinical problems in daily practice, which can be translated into research questions and designs [ 11 ]. Subsequently, physician-scientists can translate research outcomes into clinical practice [ 12 ]. Currently, there is a global shortage in the number of physician-scientists, with too few physicians pursuing a scientific career [ 2, 8, 10, 13, 14 ]. A decline in interest for research among physicians in Canada, the USA, and Europe has been documented [2]. How physicians can be directed towards a scientific career is still a topic of debate, although early engagement of medical students in research is mentioned as a possible solution [ 2, 6, 7, 15–18 ]. Engaging students in research in early stages of medical education could help to identify a possible scientific career path for these future physicians, as it could trigger enthusiasm and motivation for doing research [ 4 ]. This view is shared internationally, as is reflected in the growing amount of curricular and extracurricular courses to engage students in research [ 2, 19 ]. Some medical schools have designed and implemented mandatory courses in the curriculum with the goal to get students acquainted with research, for instance Duke University implemented a mandatory period of research into the third year of the medical curriculum, and Stanford University integrated mandatory research experiences for medical students through all years of medical training [ 19, 20 ]. Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) implemented a curriculum change in 2012, integrating mandatory research courses in undergraduate medical training with the purpose to engage students in research in early phases of medical training by providing them with active learning experiences [21]. Besides mandatory courses in the curriculum, a trend is evolving in which medical schools design and (...truncated)


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Belinda W. C. Ommering, Peter J. van den Elsen, Jolanda van der Zee, Carolina R. Jost, Friedo W. Dekker. Using an Extracurricular Honors Program to Engage Future Physicians Into Scientific Research in Early Stages of Medical Training, Medical Science Educator, 2018, pp. 1-5, DOI: 10.1007/s40670-018-0565-y