Engaging current and potential medical students in clinical research: what they learned and what we learned from them

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Although medical practice today is shaped by continuing clinical research, students studying or keen to study Medicine are often only taught the principles of research without being given the opportunity to engage in research themselves. This study looks at the impact of engaging younger students in clinical research during a standard elective hospital attachment. METHOD: Over a 6 year period, high school and medical students (both local and overseas) attached to the Cardiothoracic Surgery unit of a university teaching hospital were offered the opportunity to engage in clinical research under supervision - interspersed amongst the normal clinical activities of such an attachment. Participation was voluntary, not compulsory. Forty-four students volunteered and all became co-authors on one or more of 29 original research ...