research programs for medical students in india

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Indian Council of Medical Research

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), New Delhi, the apex body in India for the formulation, coordination and promotion of biomedical research, is one of the oldest medical research bodies in the world. The ICMR has always attempted to address itself to the growing demands of scientific advances in biomedical...

Dr Rajiv Bahl, Secretary to Government of India, Department of Health Research and Director General, Indian Council of Medical Research View Profile

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• ICMR National Institute of Research in Tribal Health (NIRTH), Jabalpur
• ICMR Bhopal Memorial Hospital & Research Center (BMHRC), Bhopal
• ICMR Centre for Ageing & Mental Health (CAMH), Kolkata
• ICMR Headquarters, New Delhi
• ICMR National Animal Resource Facility for Biomedical Research (NARFBR), Hyderabad
• ICMR National Centre for Disease Informatics and Research (NCDIR), Bengaluru
• ICMR National Institute for Implementation Research on Non-Communicable Diseases, Jodhpur
• ICMR National Institute for Research in Digital Health and Data Science (NIRDHDS), Delhi
• ICMR National Institute for Research in Environmental Health (NIREH), Bhopal
• ICMR National Institute for Research in Reproductive and Child Health (NIRRCH), Mumbai
• ICMR National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis (NIRT), Chennai
• ICMR National Institute of Cancer Prevention and Research (NICPR), Noida
• ICMR National Institute of Child Health and Development Research (NICHDR), New Delhi
• ICMR National Institute of Epidemiology (NIE), Chennai

General Instructions: 1. ICMR-NIRT will consider only the applications with complete information.

2. A requisition letter with a photo of the individual from the Head of the Institution is required.

3. In case of dissertation work, a concept paper is mandatory to be uploaded during the application

4. Selected candidates should strictly adhere to the rules and regulations of the Institute.

5. Selected candidates will work under the direct supervision of the Scientist/ Faculty nominated by the Director, ICMR - NIRT.

6. Selected candidates should pay the fees towards their internship/dissertation as soon as they join in their respective departments.

7. Upon successful completion of the assigned work, the candidates will receive a completion Certificate from the Supervisor and the Director, ICMR – NIRT.

8. In case of dissertation work, submission of a copy of the completed thesis is required.

9. Selected candidates will be encouraged to publish the research work carried out under the guidance of their supervisors at ICMR - NIRT. All institutional supervisory staff members who have made a significant contribution to the research work of the candidate will be entitled for authorship on the papers (as per the latest ICMJE authorship guidelines).

10. All IPR arising from the project work will belong to ICMR - NIRT, Chennai. The concerned candidate will be given due credit in publications arising out of his/ her work at ICMR - NIRT.

11. Selected candidates are bound to respect the confidentiality of information that they collect or are exposed to at ICMR-NIRT. No reports or papers may be published based on information obtained from ICMR-NIRT without the explicit written authorization of the Supervisor and the Director, ICMR-NIRT.

12. Although not considered a staff member of ICMR-NIRT, selected candidates shall follow the rules and regulations of ICMR-NIRT. The candidates will not be entitled to the privileges accorded to the officials and staff members of ICMR-NIRT.

13. Candidates should be fully COVID vaccinated (both doses)

14. Candidates should make their arrangements for accommodation, travel and living expenses. ICMR - NIRT WILL NOT arrange for the same.

15. The ICMR-NIRT Internship/Dissertation Programme does not entail employment.

16. ICMR-NIRT accepts no responsibility for costs or fatality arising from illness or accidents incurred during the internship/dissertation; therefore, candidates must carry adequate responsibilities of their medical conditions.

17. For any queries, please write to [email protected]

Instructions for filling the online application: 1. Passport size photo and signature should be uploaded in image format 2. Requisition, Resume and Concept paper (if applicable) should be uploaded in pdf format 3. All supporting documents uploaded should be of size <1 MB

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WHO ARE WE?

India is a country which contains hundreds of medical colleges and thousands of medical students graduating each year. A fair number of students actively involve themselves in research at a local or national or even international level. INFORMER, The Forum for Medical Students' Research, India is a step towards bringing those interested in research to a common platform.

INFORMER is an all India medical students' body aimed at advocacy and promotion of research amongst undergraduate medical students and to encourage them to present their research work at a national level by means of the annual conference organized by the forum. It is an institution comprising of a group of medical students who attempt to keep the spirit of research alive among the student community.   INFORMER was formed in 2009 in response to there being a lack of an advocate for undergraduate medical students in the country. Over the past 3 years, we have diversified base of activities which now include our annual flagship conference (Medicon), an online journal club,collaborative research projects, a research project mentoring forum, workshops which promote evidence-based medicine,medical quizzes, case presentation conferences etc.

Recent Updates

Topic: Medical Research in India Past and Future

We are as young as our faith and old as our doubts. APJ Abdul Kalam

Write an essay on the topic in less than 1500 words and win cash prizes. 1st Prize- Rs.10000/-, 2nd Prize- Rs.7000/-, 3rd Prize-Rs.5000/-

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-BMJ India has teamed up with Fortis C-DOC Center of Excellence for Diabetes, Metabolic Diseases & Endocrinology, New Delhi to provide educational support for health professionals to improve care for people with diabetes in India. Learn more about their course and how to sign up.-

Greetings from the 50th year council of Chengalpattu Medical college, Chengalpattu, Tamil Nadu. www. www.chemfest.in/charm.html

We, the students of this famed institution take immense pleasure in introducing to you our annual academic extravaganza – the 3rd CHARM-CHengalpattu Academic and Research Meet, to be conducted at our college premises, in September 2015

Abstract submission deadlines for Medicon 2015 have been extended to 30 June 2015. This is owing to certain colleges having examinations around the previous deadline. Hope you will be able to complete abstract submission within that time.

The wait is over ... Call for ICMR STS 2015 is out

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The Longevity India Initiative (LII) brings together a multidisciplinary team of experts from academia, industry, and healthcare to address complex challenges related to ageing, that will leverage to develop interventions that can help to manage age-related diseases more effectively.

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It's time to catch flights,not feelings!

Professional exchanges.

The first standing committee within IFMSA was the Standing Committee on Professional Exchange (SCOPE) in 1951.

SCOPE exchange program is a quality educational and cultural experience organized entirely by medical students with the help of their medical faculties.

The main purpose of the program is “to promote cultural understanding and co-operation amongst medical students and all health professionals, through the facilitation of international student exchanges.

 SCOPE aims to give all students the opportunity to learn about global health, and attains this partly by having its exchanges accredited by medical faculties across the world”.

You get to attend a 4 week clerkship, under a tutor, for a subject that you love dearly in your medical life, in around 40 countries from around the world. Please click here to see the countries and their details.

​For any more doubts, please refer to the  SCOPE Page and the Exchanges FAQs.

To read more about exchanges, here are some Outgoing Reports from students who have gone for exchanges.

Research Exchanges

Through Research Exchange, we provide medical students the opportunity to deepen their knowledge in the specific area of their research interest.

You get to attend a 4 week research internship, under a researcher, for a topic that you are interested in, in around 24 countries from around the world. Please click here to see the countries and their details.

The student is offered a one-month clerkship at the hospital and department of his or her choice, lodging at a student facility or with a host family, and at least one meal per day.

Under IFMSA SCORE's primary aim is to conduct research exchanges for one month with foreign universities and also to know about the culture in different countries. Following different types of research projects are available:

Basic laboratory research project

A clinical project with lab work

A clinical project without lab work

Global Action Project (GAP)

A GAP project focuses on a public health issue; currently, we don’t have any GAP projects in India.

Students are allotted a country according to their preference based on the PBS.

For any more doubts, please refer to the SCORE Page and the Exchanges FAQs.

Public Health Exchanges

Public Health Exchanges, are exchanges in Public Health settings NGOs, Medical Institutes, primary health care and other such placements to understand the Public Health scenario of a country. The aim is to promote intercultural learning in Public Health and be a source of experience to empower medical students with skills necessary for them as future healthcare providers.

You get to attend a 4 week clerkship, in countries from around the world. 

​For any more doubts, please refer to the Exchanges FAQs.

SCORA Exchanges (SXC)

SCORA X-Changes is a unilateral exchange program for IFMSA members focused on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights.

Through this program, our main objective is to introduce and equip the participants with the knowledge and skills to be effective SRHR advocates. It helps to improve the intercultural understanding of participants and exposes the participants to SRHR in the Indian context. All the focus areas are covered in sufficient detail: HIV & STI’s, Maternal Health and Access to Safe Abortion, Sexuality and Gender Identity, Comprehensive Sexuality Education and Gender-based Violence. 

SXC India 2019

We hosted our first ever SC ORA X-Change in August 2019. Over this 4 week-long program spanned out in 3 cities: Belagavi, Mumbai and Ahmedabad, we aimed to provide a space for participants to share and discuss their own experiences and provide them with the opportunity to gain insight into the SRHR scenario in other countries.

Click here   to check out the Invitation Package for SXC 2019!

To experience the adventure that SXC India 2019 was, click here

SXC India 2020

SXC India 2020 went virtual to keep up with the times! Virtual SXC India 2020 was conducted in July 2020. We discussed SRHR issues in COVID-19 in India and held a workshop on Sexual Pleasure : The Forgotten Link in association with Love Matters India for our participants.

GoSCORP is an umbrella platform for volunteering projects hosted by different National Member Organisations (NMOs) every year. It is a SCORP initiative that combines unilateral exchange and volunteering experience. 

GoSCORP focuses on providing participating members with an experience centered around a human rights based approach to volunteerism and social work, workshops and discussions,  building the capacities regarding intercultural competences and specific chosen themes connected to human rights and peace. 

GoSCORP may also provide you an opportunity to become IFMSA certified Human Right trainers or advocates through a TNHRT or HRMP respectively.

GoSCORP India 2019

GoSCORP India 2019 to us was a dream harboured since the day we realised how greatly it impacts lives and evoked an innate desire to strive for peace and fight for rights. Discussions, debates, workshops, sessions, volunteering activities, slum visits, a tour of the Gandhi ashram, health facilities, interaction with various sections of the society created an intrinsic desire to help, and the help starts with changing our way of life and extending them to people around us. We intricately wove our vibrant culture with the hustle-bustle of the ever so busy city life of India and embraced the serenity of the sea and the peace amongst the hills.

GoSCORP India 2019 ended with a family of SCORPions who have now begun their journey to carry the burning torch of change to all around to world.

Click here for the GoSCORP 2019 Invitation Package

​GO SCORP 2023

You must be the change you wish to see in the world.

As our bit to be a part of the big change we ambitiously envision, we, the GoSCORP INDIA OC, invite you to our country to join us and lend a helping hand in creating the difference that we have set out to make.

GoSCORP India is a program which is designed to highlight the human rights issues in India. We aim to orient the participants with current women rights, refugee rights, LGBTQIA+ rights and climate change issues in India. We aim to equip the participants with the skills to understand and analyse the problems and come up with innovative solutions of their own. As future healthcare professionals and policy makers, this program can help them understand how such a vast country like India faces the challenge of handling a large population and makes policies to ensure human rights for all.

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Visiting Scholar Programme

• The goal of the Observership / Internship program is to heave the clinical knowledge and provide a strong overview of specialties as well as an opportunity to learn about best medical practices.
• The Program provides qualified national & international medical students an opportunity, to visit Sir H N Reliance Foundation Hospital to observe, interact and learn with renowned senior doctors and professionals
• The Program includes the modules on learning and exposure to the advanced medical technology, varied teaching and treatment protocols.
• Elective Observership / Internship Programme for Undergraduate medical students / Non Clinical Graduates seeking elective postings.
• Elective Clinical Observership / Internship Programme for Graduates
• Elective Clinical Observership / Internship Programme for Post Graduates

PROGRAMME STRUCTURE:

• The observership/internship is an educational program for Students in which the observer/ intern gets an opportunity to observe the daily hospital routine, learn about new medical technology and best clinical practices..
• No privileges are granted to participate in the clinical treatment of patients, to assist in any medical procedures, test or surgeries.
• Candidates shall not have access to hands-on patient care or contact, examination, research or other work during his/her Observership / Internship
• Respect to patient privacy and confidentiality to be strictly complied by the observer
• It is Non Remunerative Hands Free Observership programme
• When the Training is a part of a Curriculum example Rehabilitation, Masters, Dietetics etc it is known as Internship and when it is an object of interest, it is called as Observership

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• Short Term (2 weeks – 6 weeks)
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The hospital is pleased to charge nominal fees for the observers and Interns as detailed in the Fee structure below.

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Research opportunities for medical students in India

Affiliation.

• 1 All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Ansari Nagar, New Delhi 110029, India. [email protected]
• PMID: 19267044
• Biomedical Research / education*
• Education, Medical / economics*
• Fellowships and Scholarships*

Next Gen Scientists Foundation

Time for the Next Gen to rise and shine

NGSF Internship Program 2024

Next Gen Scientists Foundation (registered under the Trust act of India 1882)  offers  an opportunity to fund  internships  for undergraduate and postgraduate students who wish to gain research experience in life sciences. Interns will conduct independent research under  the  mentorship of Principal Investigator/Professor of their interest at Indian institutes. This year, we will continue to accept applications for remote internships in Computational Biology, in addition to the usual on-site internships. However, please note that remote interns will comprise a maximum of 20% of the final selected cohort. NGS interns can apply to get their final year thesis projects funded starting 2025.

Applications for NGSF Internship Program 2024 are now closed .

Eligibility:   

Applicants will be deemed eligible if the following conditions are satisfied:

• Be interested in undertaking a life science-associated internship for a period of two (minimum of 56 days) or three (minimum of 84 days) months
• Be a student in the (i) 2 nd   year of a 3-year undergraduate program or   (ii)  2 nd  /3 rd year of a 4-year undergraduate program or (iii) 1 st  year of a 2-year masters program or  (iv)  2 nd  /3 rd  /4 th   year of a 5-year integrated program at an Indian institute
• Be accepted to work in the lab of a professor/principal investigator (PI) in any Indian Institute outside of their institute of study

Students receiving financial assistance from the principal investigator and/or any other agencies (KVPY, INSA, JNCASR, IIT, IISER) cannot get additional support from the program. NGSF does not support internships where interns have to pay a fee to gain experience. Funds from the program are meant to support interns in traditional unpaid internships without fees.

Finding a PI mentor/professor for your internship:

We DO NOT provide internship opportunities directly. The program only funds students accepted by PIs to work in their labs. We want you to have a productive internship experience. So, please ensure that the prospective PI mentor/professor has at least three years of experience as faculty and at least three publications in peer-reviewed journals as a corresponding (last) author. If you’re unsure where to look, visit the list of recommended institutes .

Application process:  

We accept applications only through the online application system . Carefully  read the application guidelines before applying and follow the instructions.  The application system opens on December 1  2023 and closes at 12:00 midnight on March 31 2024.  Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Hence, early applications are encouraged. Selected  applicants will be invited to interview via Skype in April.

Result announcement:  

Results will be announced before April 31 2024. Selected candidates will be informed via email.

Financial support: 

NGS Interns will receive a stipend amount of INR 6000 per month for on-site internships and INR 3000 for remote internships for a period of up to 3 months upon satisfying requirements . For on-site interns, travel will also be reimbursed up to the cost of a III class AC train ticket (round-trip).

Internship period : 

The internship can span any two to three month period between May and July 2024 as per the convenience of the student and the PI.

Scientific Communication: 

Besides funding your research experience, our program also emphasizes on effective scientific communication. During the internship period, interns are required to contribute  an article to NGS blog and submit a monthly progress report. At the  end of the program, participants should give a presentation on their experience as a part of the NGS Internship webinar  program.

Dissertation Program: 

Starting from 2022, candidates who have been selected as NGSF interns get the added benefit of applying to get support during their Bachelors/Masters thesis research work after their internship period. The only requirements for applying to the program are 1) Be selected as part of the NGSF Internship Program previously and 2) Perform your dissertation/thesis work outside of your institute of study. If selected, we will provide a stipend of INR 6000 per month for up to 6 months.

Any further questions regarding the internship program will be addressed at [email protected]  or you can chat with our team directly in Indian Life Science Network ( NGSF Category/#internship-queries ). Please note, enquiries made through made through our Discord server will be addressed quicker than those made through email.

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LMRF offers Internship opportunities to Science Graduates, Medical and Non medical Professionals those who are interested in clinical and Community Research for 3-6 months. During their internship, interns are motivated to take part in various activities and hone their skills by making presentations, attending lectures and getting involved in daily activities. They also get to work with the Data team, Statistics team, Research team, Admin team as per qualification and Interest. They are monitored and guided by the senior staff members. Those interns interested in community research are also sent on field visits.

After the successful completion of internship period we certify the intern by  “Certificate of Completion” undersigned by our Research Expert. This certificate helps in brightening career opportunities in the field of research. We offer assistance to our interns who want to write scientific papers or publish data collected by them during the internship.

Mentoring for Interns / Fellows/ International students from following institutes has resulted in strengthening the capacities of research staff at the organization as well as knowledge sharing.

• University of Sydney, Australia – 1 faculty
• Harvard School of Medicine, Boston – 5 students
• Massachusetts General Hospital for Children, Boston – 1 student
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston – 2 students
• European Public Health – 1 student
• University of California, USA – 1student
• Symbiosis Institute, Pune , India – 1 student

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Exploring the learners’ perspectives on competency-based medical education

Rashmi ramanathan.

Department of Physiology, KMCH Institute of Health Science and Researches, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India

Jeevithan Shanmugam

1 Department of Community Medicine, KMCH Institute of Health Sciences and Research, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India

Sridhar Magadi Gopalakrishna

2 Department of Biochemistry, KMCH Institute of Health Sciences and Research, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India

Kalaniti Palanisami

3 Department of General Medicine, KMCH Institute of Health Sciences and Research, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India

Seetharaman Narayanan

Background:.

A novel innovation in medical education was initiated by the Medical Council of India after 21 years. Competency-based medical education (CBME) is an effective outcome-based strategy, which requires integration of knowledge, attitude, skills, values, and responsiveness. The aim was to assess the students’ perspectives on competency-based medical curriculum.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted among 1 st year MBBS students (2019–2020 batch). A validated questionnaire was administered through Google link among phase I medical students of various medical colleges across India by multistage sampling.

A total of 987 students from 74 medical colleges in India responded. Nearly three-fourths opined that foundation course (FC), attitude ethics communication module, and early clinical exposure were necessary. Horizontal integration was more appreciated to vertical integration. Maintaining log books was perceived as time-consuming and cumbersome.

CONCLUSION:

The CBME when meticulously adopted will inspire student enthusiasm for learning. Few reforms such as curtailing the duration of FC, diffuse sessions on stress and time management, better synchronized vertical integration, and an exemplary implementation of adult learning techniques can be undertaken.

Introduction

The Medical Council of India (MCI) is the apex statutory body for establishing standards of medical education. In alignment with the global movement toward competency-based learning, the MCI had undertaken a comprehensive revision of the undergraduate medical curriculum, after the last amendment done in 1998. The new curriculum titled “Competency Based Undergraduate Curriculum for the Indian Medical Graduate” is being implemented across the country, from the academic year 2019 to 2020.[ 1 ]

Competency-based medical education (CBME) is an approach to ensure that the graduates attain the competencies required to discharge their professional duties as health-care personnel. It de-emphasizes time-based training and promises greater accountability, flexibility, and learner-centeredness.[ 2 ] This innovative curriculum has introduced many new curricular elements to the existing undergraduate medical training.

The Indian Medical Graduate (IMG) is envisaged as a “five star doctor” who should perform the roles of clinician, communicator, leader and team member, lifelong learner, and a professional.[ 3 ]

The CBME curriculum document lists 2949 outcomes (competencies) to be mastered by the undergraduates along with suitable teaching–learning (TL) and assessment methods. The shift from knowledge accumulation to skill acquisition is considered as the pivot of the new undergraduate curriculum. Alignment and integration among different disciplines is one of the core strategies in implementing the new curriculum.[ 4 , 5 , 6 ] New curricular elements include the foundation course (FC), early clinical exposure (ECE), attitudes, ethics and communication (AETCOM), elective postings (EP), alignment and integration, clinical clerkships, and more. Incorporation of structured feedback, maintenance of log books are other notable features of the CBME.[ 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ]

Faculty preparedness and internalization of the new initiative have been heterogeneous. In spite of multiple rounds of curriculum implementation support programs, the rollout has reportedly not been uniform across the nation.[ 3 , 10 ] The current batch of medical students are the very first to undergo training as per the revised curriculum.

New educational roles of the young medical aspirants: instead of passive listening, students must take personal responsibility for learning by adopting self-directed learning (SDL) methods (library/on-line access), performing under observation in skills laboratory and, encountering real and simulated patients. The learner must demonstrate and document the evidence of acquisition of competency.[ 11 ]

Readers may find it more confounding to envisage, despite these much hyped efforts, whether the new guidelines fulfill the societal and patient needs. The upcoming change in medical education motivated us to get cumulative feedback from students with the aims to assess the learners’ perspectives and opinions regarding the new curriculum, discuss its advantages, limitations, and suggest future directions to make undergraduate medical education more relevant and learner-centric.

Materials and Methods

This cross-sectional study was conducted among 1 st year MBBS students (2019–2020 batch), between February and March 2020 after obtaining the Institutional Ethics Committee clearance. A semi-structured questionnaire (including both open- and closed-ended questions), eliciting the learners’ perception on various facets of new curriculum was developed. The questionnaire was validated for its feasibility of content, construction, and language by three experts in the field of medical education. A pilot study was conducted to validate the questionnaire and eliminate all ambiguous words. Majority of the questions were framed on a 5-point agree-disagree Likert's scale. Data collection was done through Google forms online survey platform. Multistage random sampling method was adopted. Initially, of the total 542 medical colleges in India, excluding standalone PG institutes and those who have applied for recognition, around 420 were listed. In the next stage, 74 medical colleges were selected by simple random sampling using lottery method. In the last stage, the questionnaire was mailed to all the 1 st -year students of these 74 medical colleges and universal sampling (all those who responded to the invitation and filled the questionnaire) was adopted. Thus, responses of a total of 987 students were included in the study for the compilation and final analysis.

A scoring system was developed based on the responses. The maximum score for the positive response was given five points and the next better response was given a score of four and so on. The overall total score was calculated for each respondent and also for each of the subcomponents such as FC, adult learning, integration, assessment, and AETCOM.

An arbitrary scale was developed to categorize the responses obtained from the students, namely negative attitude (total score in each category <40%), neutral attitude (41%–60% of the total score), and positive attitude (>60% of the total score) toward the concept.

Responses obtained in Google forms were exported and analyzed in Microsoft Excel © . Responses to the questions were expressed as percentages and tabulated.

Among the total 987 respondents, 514 (52.1%) were from government medical colleges and 446 (45.2%) were from private medical colleges, while 27 (2.7%) did not mention their institutions’ affiliation.

Overall, three-fourth (75.4%) of the participants agreed that the FC was necessary at the start of the MBBS course. Among the different components of the FC, basic life support training and field visits evoked very high positive responses (93.6% and 89.9%), while IT/computer skills sessions evoked the least (43.1%) positive response among the students. The responses of the participants for the different components of the FC, on a five-point Likert's scale are depicted in Table 1 .

Students’ perceptions on framework of foundation course

Values within parenthesis are percentages. SA=Strongly agree, A=Agree, N=Neutral, D=Disagree, SD=Strongly disagree

The newer curricular elements such as ECE (89.2%), small group teaching (73.1), SDL (58.3%), and reflective learning (48.2%) evoked differing levels of acceptance among the participants as detailed in Figure 1 .

Students’ perceptions on newer curricular elements

Figure 2 shows three-fourths of the participants agreed that attitude, ethics, and communication (AETCOM) training must start from Phase I MBBS itself. Though the participants have not experienced EP, 62.6% felt that it would be a good initiative.

Learners insight on AETCOM and electives

Table 2 reveals that less than half (47.1%) claimed to have a clear understanding of the assessment schemes. Around four-fifth (81.2%) welcomed the addition of multiple choice questions (MCQs) and 86.6% were apprehensive about the 100 marks for each theory paper in new assessment scheme.

Innovations in assessment methods

Overall, 78.3% of the students appreciated the concept of integrating different subjects and specialties as a good way to learn medical concepts. Around 73.8% of the first MBBS students felt that horizontal integration was more appealing than vertical integration (64.4%). However, nearly 60% of the participants felt that integrated learning sessions were time-consuming, considering the quantum of 1 st year portions. Less than half (46%) of the participants agreed that it is desirable to learn concepts from Phase II and III in phase I, in the absence of assessments in these portions [ Figure 3 ].

Learners’ perspective on alignment and integration

Majority (83.6%) felt that Phase I MBBS is academically very stressful and a similar percentage (85%) opined that more time should be allotted for sports and physical activity. Nearly one-third (36.6%) of the students reported that they have actually read the CBME curricular documents from MCI. Around one-third (33.6%) of the students felt confident that they can satisfactorily maintain multiple logbooks/record books for each subject [ Table 3 ].

Other aspects of competency-based medical education

Nearly four-fifths had a positive attitude toward all the components except for adult learning principles (<40%) [ Table 4 ].

Overall attitude scores of study population for different components of competency-based medical education

CBME=Competency-based medical education, AETCOM=Attitude ethics communication

This study was conducted to assess the perspectives of 1 st year MBBS students on the newly implemented CBME curriculum. Responses were obtained from medical students through an online survey nationwide.

Indian medical student unlike western counterparts starts their medical course at the age of 17 or 18 years. The students come from diverse social, economic, and linguistic backgrounds with different levels of understanding. It would be desirable to ensure smooth transition to a new role through some sort of an orientation. Hence, a proper orientation immediately after admission into medical school enables students to sensitize themselves to the medical course and its requirements.[ 12 , 13 ] This could be the motive for formulating 1 month FC before the commencement of the MBBS course.

Suman et al . in 2007[ 14 ] and Srimathi in 2014[ 13 ] after conducting FC in their respective institutions emphasized that it rightly tuned the students thinking to develop proper attitude and aptitude for the MBBS course. More than three-fourth of the respondents in the current study welcomed the introduction of the FC at the start of the MBBS course. We believe that a well-conducted FC would be appealing to students.

Though the FC has gained the stardom of the fresher's, the suggestions to lessen its duration from 30 days to 2 weeks cannot be ignored. Many students were of the opinion that field visit at the start would be very useful to understand the functioning of the health sector in India.

Medical students suffer stress, which is inextricably linked to anxiety, academic workload, financial pressure, and depression. Similarly, majority of our study participants experienced psychological morbidity in medical education due to several examinations, and our findings are in line with the previous studies.[ 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 ] As a part of stress management sessions, preventive mental health strategies to reinforce optimistic behaviors are worth implementing throughout the course.[ 21 ] More than two-thirds of the participants welcomed time and stress management sessions conducted during the FC and many felt that stress management sessions could be considered throughout the duration of the course. Few students suggested having a counselor in the college premises to help them combat stress.

Though computer technology is being increasingly used in all aspects of medicine, sessions to nurture computer skills in FC were not considered prime by the students, probably because they have acquainted basic computer skills in their schools and additional skills can be self-learned in due course

SDL is a vital educational principle in higher education that has been promoted by various institutions due to its value in developing professionals to become lifelong learners. In an emerging medical field, SDL trains the medical students to develop independent learning, assertiveness, accountability, and be more responsible. Medical educators similarly seek to adopt SDL with the primary aim of producing learners who can manage their own learning and have a continuous quest for knowledge through critical thinking. It enhances retention and recall of information to promote better decision-making.[ 21 ] The importance of extrinsic motivation and reflective practice in adult learning are highlighted in many researches all over the world.[ 3 ] The readiness for SDL practices appeared to be low among medical students in India and the need to find ways to build SDL skills among them is of paramount importance.[ 21 , 22 , 23 ] Similarly, in our study, the adult learning principles (SDL and reflective learning) were not much appreciated by the students. Many felt that these principles were time-consuming and a few have also reported that these were not followed in their colleges. Lack of proper sensitization might have made students perceive that adult learning techniques were not so useful.

Attitude, ethics, and communication are addressed in the roles of an IMG in order to make him responsible and accountable to patients, community, and profession. Previous studies done in India have explained the need for formal training of communication skills and few pilot projects have been successful.[ 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 ] There was an average response for AETCOM sessions throughout phase I. Proper sensitization and faculty training programs will help to tide over this issue.

Didactic lectures and small group teaching were the most commonly used media of learning and favored by the students. The new curriculum limits lectures to only one-third of the total teaching hours allotted to a particular subject and small group TL would now account for two-thirds of the total teaching hours. Allotting only one-third for lecture classes will be met with greater resistance.[ 3 , 30 ] Few suggested to stream up the number of lecture hours.

ECE can make basic science curricula more relevant and it helps students socialize to medicine and strengthen skill acquisition. ECE has been found to improve the learning skills among first MBBS students.[ 31 , 32 , 33 ] These experiences frequently take the form of community-based preceptorships.[ 34 ] Around 95% of the students preferred to have ECE in phase I as it develops problem-solving skills and better patient interaction. ECE intends to provide basic science correlation, basic clinical skills, and makes learning relevant and contextual.

Integration of TL across the phases in medical education can break departmental silos. It is now recommended that at least 80% of the topics can be “temporally aligned,” signifying the exposure of students to similar topics in anatomy, physiology, and biochemistry at the same time, to prevent redundancy in curriculum implementation and to save time.[ 12 ] Though the students felt that horizontal integration helps in holistic learning in first MBBS, they felt that vertical integration may be carried out from second MBBS, probably due to insufficiencies in implementation of vertical integration and voluminous 1 st year syllabus.

Electives, another novel component of the competency- based curriculum, might allow students to explore areas of their interest at the end of the 3 rd year of the course providing a great insight into potential avenues they may consider during postgraduation.[ 10 ]

More than 80% felt that the 1 st year curriculum is too stressful. Few have even proposed to extend the phase I duration to 1½ years. Few students have represented to provide more dissection hours and opted for cadaver-based learning, as it serves an alternative scope for memorization. Similarly, many suggest 3D videos of biochemistry, an ideal technique to understand molecular concepts better. Though MCI's new curriculum has given directions for sports activities, we find no such sports hours allotted in a majority of colleges.

In the pursuit of attaining predefined milestones, there is a possibility that learners may stop striving for excellence. The de-emphasis on time-based learning may create a chaotic situation wherein the students proceed at their own pace and may end up in academic lacunae in low achievers.[ 10 ] The ideal step in the making of a holistic doctor is to make the students realize their roles and responsibilities on their own.

Only a competent student can become a competent medical practitioner. Few reforms like reducing the duration of FC and curtailing few sessions like computer skills, diffuse sessions on stress and time management, more coordinated vertical integration, and regular sports activity can be undertaken. SDL and reflection on practice are explicitly expected for continuing professional development.

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How to get involved in research as a medical student

• Related content
• Peer review
• Anna Kathryn Taylor , final year medical student 1 ,
• Sarah Purdy , professor of primary care and associate dean 1
• 1 Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Bristol, UK

Participating in research gives students great skills and opportunities. Anna Taylor and Sarah Purdy explain how to get started

This article contains:

-How to get involved with research projects

-Questions to ask yourself before starting research

-What can you get published? Research output

-Advice for contacting researchers

-Different types of research explained

-Stages of research projects

Students often go into medicine because of a desire to help others and improve patients’ physical and mental wellbeing. In the early years of medical school, however, it can seem as if you are not making much difference to patient care. Involvement in research can provide exciting opportunities to work as part of a team, improve career prospects, and most importantly add to the evidence base, leading to better outcomes for patients.

Research is usually multidisciplinary, including clinical academics (medical doctors who spend part of their working life doing research), nurses, patients, scientists, and researchers without a medical background. Involvement in such a team can improve your communication skills and expand your understanding of how a multidisciplinary team works.

Participating in research can also help you to develop skills in writing and critical appraisal through the process of publishing your work. You may be able to present your work at conferences—either as a poster or an oral presentation—and this can provide valuable points for job applications at both foundation programme and core training level. This is particularly important if you are considering a career in academia. You will also develop skills in time management, problem solving, and record keeping. You might discover an area of medicine in which you are keen to carry out further work. For some people, getting involved in research as a medical student can be the first step in an academic career.

Kyla Thomas, National Institute for Health Research clinical lecturer in public health at the University of Bristol, says, “my first baby steps into a clinical academic career started with a research project I completed as a medical student. That early involvement in research opened my eyes to a whole new world of opportunities that I never would have considered.

“Importantly, participating in undergraduate research sets students apart from their colleagues. Applying for foundation posts is a competitive process and it is a definite advantage if you have managed to obtain a peer reviewed publication.”

Getting involved with research projects

Although it is possible to do research at medical school, it is important to be realistic about how much free time you have. It might be possible to set up your own research project, but this will require substantial planning in terms of writing research protocols, gaining ethical approval, and learning about new research methodologies. Other opportunities for research that make less demands on your time include:

Intercalated degrees—these often have time set aside for research in a specific area, so it is important to choose your degree according to what you might like to do for your dissertation (for example, laboratory-based work in biochemistry, or qualitative research in global health. Some subjects may have options in both qualitative and quantitative research).

Student selected components or modules can provide a good opportunity to be involved in an ongoing study or research project. If you have a long project period, you might be able to develop your own small project.

Electives and summer holidays can also provide dedicated time for research, either within the United Kingdom or in another country. They can allow you to become established in a research group if you’re there for a few weeks, and can lead to a longstanding relationship with the research group if you continue to work with them over your medical school career.

If you don’t know what to do, contacting the Student Audit and Research in Surgery (STARSurg), 1 the National Student Association of Medical Research (NSAMR), 2 or your medical school’s research society may be a good place to start.

The INSPIRE initative, 3 coordinated by the Academy of Medical Sciences, gives support and grants to help students take part in research. Some UK medical schools have small grants for elective and summer projects, and organise taster days for students to get an idea of different research areas.

You may also be able to access other grants or awards to support your research. Some of the royal colleges, such as the Royal College of General Practitioners and the Royal College of Psychiatrists, offer bursaries to students doing research in their holidays or presenting at conferences. Other national organisations, such as the Medical Women’s Federation, offer bursaries for elective projects.

Box 1: Questions to ask yourself before starting research

What are you interested in? There is no point getting involved in a project area that you find boring.

How much time do you have available? It is crucial to think about this before committing to a project, so that your supervisor can give you an appropriate role.

What do you want to get out of your research experience? Do you want a brief insight into research? Or are you hoping for a publication or presentation?

Do you know any peers or senior medical students who are involved in research? Ask them about their experiences and whether they know of anyone who might be willing to include you in a project.

Box 2: Research output

Publication —This is the “gold standard” of output and usually consists of an article published in a PubMed ID journal. This can lead to your work being cited by another researcher for their paper, and you can get up to two extra points on foundation programme applications if you have published papers with a PubMed ID.

Not all research will get published, but there are other ways to show your work, such as presenting at conferences:

Oral presentation —This involves giving a short talk about your research, describing the background, methods, and results, then talking about the implications of your findings.

Poster presentation —This involves creating a poster, usually A1 or A2 in size, summarising the background, methods, and results of your research. At a conference, presenters stand by their poster and answer questions from other delegates.

Contacting researchers

Most universities have information about their research groups on their websites, so spend some time exploring what studies are being carried out and whether you are interested in one of the research topics.

When contacting a member of the research group, ask if they or someone else within their team would be willing to offer you some research experience. Be honest if you don’t have any prior experience and about the level of involvement you are looking for, but emphasise what it is about their research that interests you and why you want to work with them. It’s important to have a flexible approach to what they offer you—it may not initially sound very exciting, but it will be a necessary part of the research process, and may lead to more interesting research activity later.

Another way to make contact with researchers is at university talks or lectures. It might be intimidating to approach senior academics, but if you talk to them about your interest they will be more likely to remember you if you contact them later on.

Box 3: What can students offer research teams?—Views from researchers

“Medical students come to research with a ‘fresh eyes’ perspective and a questioning mindset regarding the realities of clinical practice which, as a non-medic myself, serves to remind me of the contextual challenges of implementing recommendations from our work.”

Alison Gregory, senior research associate, Centre for Academic Primary Care, University of Bristol, UK.

“Enthusiasm, intelligence, and a willingness to learn new skills to solve challenges—bring those attributes and you’ll be valuable to most research teams.”

Tony Pickering, consultant anaesthetist and Wellcome Trust senior research fellow, University of Bristol, UK.

Box 4: Different types of research

Research aims to achieve new insights into disease, investigations, and treatment, using methodologies such as the ones listed below:

Qualitative research —This can be used to develop a theory and to explain how and why people behave as they do. 4 It usually involves exploring the experience of illness, therapeutic interventions, or relationships, and can be compiled using focus groups, structured interviews, consultation analysis, 5 or ethnography. 6

Quantitative research —This aims to quantify a problem by generating numerical data, and may test a hypothesis. 7 Research projects can use chemicals, drugs, biological matter, or even computer generated models. Quantitative research might also involve using statistics to evaluate or compare interventions, such as in a randomised controlled trial.

Epidemiological research —This is the study of the occurrence and distribution of disease, the determinants influencing health and disease states, and the opportunities for prevention. It often involves the analysis of large datasets. 4

Mixed methods research —This form of research incorporates both quantitative and qualitative methodologies.

Systematic reviews —These provide a summary of the known evidence base around a particular research question. They often create new data by combining other quantitative (meta-analysis) or qualitative (meta-ethnography) studies. They are often used to inform clinical guidelines.

Box 5: Stages of research projects

Project conception—Come up with a hypothesis or an objective for the project and form the main research team.

Write the research protocol—Produce a detailed description of the methodology and gain ethical approval, if needed.

Carry out the methodology by collecting the data.

Analyse the data.

Decide on the best way to disseminate your findings—for example, a conference presentation or a publication—and where you will do this.

Write up your work, including an abstract, in the format required by your chosen journal or conference.

Submit . For conference abstracts, you may hear back swiftly whether you have been offered the chance to present. Publication submissions, however, must be peer reviewed before being accepted and it can take over a year for a paper to appear in print.

Originally published as: Student BMJ 2017;25:i6593

Competing interests: AKT received grant money from INSPIRE in 2013.

Provenance and peer review: Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

• ↵ STARSurg. Student Audit and Research in Surgery. 2016. www.starsurg.org .
• ↵ NSAMR. National Student Association of Medical Research. 2016. www.nsamr.org .
• ↵ The Academy of Medical Sciences. About the INSPIRE initiative. 2016. www.acmedsci.ac.uk/careers/mentoring-and-careers/INSPIRE/about-INSPIRE/ .
• ↵ Ben-Shlomo Y, Brookes ST, Hickman M. Lecture Notes: Epidemiology, Evidence-based Medicine and Public Health. 6th ed . Wiley-Blackwell, 2013 .
• ↵ gp-training.net. Consultation Theory. 2016. www.gp-training.net/training/communication_skills/consultation/consultation_theory.htm .
• ↵ Reeves S, Kuper A, Hodges BD. Qualitative research methodologies: ethnography. BMJ 2008 ; 337 : a1020 . doi:10.1136/bmj.a1020   pmid:18687725 . OpenUrl FREE Full Text
• ↵ Porta M. A Dictionary of Epidemiology. 5th ed . Oxford University Press, 2008 .

IndiaBioscience

Summer research internship program, event details.

The Skill Development Centre at School of Life Sciences, University of Hyderabad offers summer internships to graduate and post graduate students.

School of Life Sciences (SLS), University of Hyderabad (UoH), internationally recognized for its excellence in teaching and research, has initiated this program to train graduate / post graduate students in cutting edge areas of biology. SLS wishes to share its rich expertise with the students to empower them with required skill set to take up demanding responsibilities in Biotech Industry and academic establishments. The internship program will be conducted periodically by an outfit of SLS, called SLS-Skill Development Center. The SLS faculty members, known for their outstanding research contributions, will host the trainees in their research labs for a period of two months. The trainees will be working on a objective oriented research problem followed by submission of their results in the form of a dissertation. This enables the trainees to gain first-hand knowledge, especially working skills with sophisticated instruments frequently used in research setup and biotech industry.

Research and Training Opportunities

New section.

Looking for ways to enrich your medical school experience? Check out our directories of clinical, research, and public health opportunities.

Looking for ways to enrich your medical school experience? Search for fellowships, internships, summer programs, scholarships, and grants currently available in the United States and abroad.

Earn two degrees in four to five years to improve the health of the individuals and communities you serve.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Medical Research Scholars Program (MRSP) is a comprehensive, year-long research enrichment program designed to attract the most creative, research-oriented medical, dental, and veterinary students to the intramural campus of the NIH in Bethesda, MD.

Summer programs at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) provide an opportunity to spend a summer working at the NIH side-by-side with some of the leading scientists in the world, in an environment devoted exclusively to biomedical research.

Upcoming Summer 2024 Application Deadline is May 12, 2024.  

Click here to apply.

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• 12 min read

15 Summer Research Opportunities in India for High School Students

Finding research opportunities in India which are open for high school students can be challenging.

We have you covered - make the most out of your summer with this curated list of opportunities across India and the U.S. We have both on-campus and virtual opportunities that range from highly selective to fairly welcoming, across a wide array of subjects.

If you are open to traveling outside India, take a look at some of the other opportunities we’ve curated in psychology research , medical research , biology research , summer research programs and virtual research . Be sure to visit the websites to check whether the program is open for international students! You can also check out our research program – Lumiere – which had 2100 students apply this past year!

1. Ashoka University’s Young Scholars Program (YSP )

Subject areas: Multidisciplinary

Location: In-person @Ashoka University's Campus in Sonipat, Haryana

Cost: INR 25,500 (inclusive of taxes). Yes, need-based financial aid is available.

Application deadline: Tentatively April 2023 (based on previous year’s application)

Program dates: May 2023

Program selectivity: Moderately selective

Eligibility: Students in grades 9 to 12 in May of the intake year.

This 1-week program is a pre-college experience for a liberal arts education. Students get a chance to explore 10 different disciplines through experiential and hands-on learning. The program includes a range of activities including lectures, workshops, discussion groups, project-work, presentations and performances.

2. FLAME University's Summer Immersion Program

Location: FLAME University Campus (Pune, Maharashtra)

Cost: INR 50,000 (inclusive of service tax).

Application deadline: Tentatively Batch 1: 9th May, Batch 2: 20th June (based on previous year’s application)

Program dates: Tentatively Batch I - 15th May 2022 to 28th May 2022 and Batch II - 26th June 2022 to 09th July 2022

Program selectivity: Open enrollment

Eligibility: Students in grades 9 to 12. At least 14 years of age as on 15th March of the intake year.

This 12-day program offers high school students to gain first-hand understanding of liberal arts education through a mix of exciting academic and non-academic courses which provide a strong foundation to succeed in future academic pursuits.

3. Seattle Children’s Research Institute – Research Training Program

Subject areas: Biology, medicine, health

Location: Virtual

Application deadline: Tentatively April for 2023 (based on previous year’s application)

Program dates: To be announced.

Program selectivity: High

Eligibility: Students entering grades 10 to 12 who have not yet applied to college.

This 1-week program students become familiar with key fundamentals of research and gain hands-on experience and knowledge of global health. They also participate in workshops on college readiness and career exploration.

4. YLAC’s The Young Researchers for Social Impact (YRSI) program

Subject areas: Multidisciplinary but focused on social development

Cost: INR 20,000 plus taxes

Application deadline: To be announced for 2023

Program dates: 2 programs running between June and July (tentative)

Eligibility: Students from grades 10 to 12 (recent graduates included). No more than 18 years of age.

Young Leaders for Active Citizenship (YLAC) organizes this 1-month program to immerse high school students in live research projects with partner organizations such as Our Democracy, Teach for India, Indian School of Democracy, Lung Care Foundation, World Resources Institute (to name a few). Students work on issues across environment, gender, education, global health and governance.

5. Amity University’s Summer Program

Location: Amity University Campus (Noida, Uttar Pradesh)

Cost: Rs. 10,000/- (Fees subsidized by Amity Youth Foundation). Hostel Fees : Rs. 4,000/-

(Including Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner).

Application deadline: June 5-16, 2023 (based on previous year’s application).

Program dates: Tentatively June-July for 2023

Eligibility: Students in grades 10 to 12.

This 2-week program provides students with a structured pre-college experience across liberal arts along with guided career exploration. Students get to interact with different education departments and have the option to experience life on an Amity campus.

6. Plaksha University’s Young Technology Scholars (YTS)

Subject areas: STEM

Location: Plaksha University Campu (Mohali, Punjab)

Cost: Fees: INR 75,000 (Early Bird) / INR 90,000 Read more about the summer Young Technology Scholars (YTS) summer program. Need-based scholarships are available.

Application deadline: Tentatively April for 2023 (based on previous year’s application).

Program dates: Tentatively June and July, 2023

Eligibility: Students in grades 9 to 12.

This 2-week intensive STEM summer program exposes students to real-world engineering and problem-solving through hands-on learning and interdisciplinary coursework.

7. Symbiosis University’s Summer School (SSS)

Subject areas: Multidisciplinary across liberal arts/sciences

Location: The Symbiosis Centre of International Education (Pune, Maharashtra)

Cost: Not available.

Application deadline: Rolling.

Program dates: Tentatively June-July for 2023.

This 2-week program helps students an opportunity to cut through the confusion associated with choices students make after graduating from school. This program introduces its participants to the academic program, disciplines, and careers available to them through a mix of pre-college course work and seminars.

8. Camp Euclid – A Mathematics Research Camp

Subject areas: Mathematics

Cost: Cost: INR 1,16,000 (approx.) / $1400. Scholarships available.

Application deadline: To be announced. The program was on hiatus for 2022 but will resume in 2023.

Eligibility: Students who are between 13 and 19 years old.

This 6-week program presents students with math problems which have never been solved before. Within a circle of fellow scholars, students spend time on understanding, solving, and applying complex math problems.

9. Syracuse University’s Pre-College Summer and Accelerated Semester programs

Location: Both programs are available virtually.

Accelerated semester: Per credit cost - INR 57,000 (approx.) / $695 plus INR 2,800 (approx.) / $35 (application fee). Financial aid and discounts are not available for Accelerated Semester Online courses.

Pre-College Online: Noncredit course - INR 2,00,000 (approx.) / $2,500. 3 credits - INR 2,47,000 (approx.) / $2985. Scholarships and financial aid is available. Other variations of courses have different charges, available here .

Application deadline: Dates for the accelerated semester are session dependent and available here .

Program dates: Differ based on program and course.

Program selectivity: Accelerated semester: Moderate. Pre-College Online: Open enrollment

Eligibility:

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• Open access
• Published: 09 April 2024

Preparing medical students for their educational task as physicians: important, desirable and unexplored territory

• Bas PH ter Brugge 1 ,
• Lena Sophia Fegg 2 &
• Marjo Wijnen-Meijer 2 , 3  

BMC Medical Education volume  24 , Article number:  391 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

199 Accesses

Metrics details

Physicians engage in educational activities in daily practice and take over an important role in providing information and transferring knowledge to patients and medical students. Therefore, it is important to focus on methods to develop teaching skills during medical school. Peer-teaching is a teaching method that is connected to different positive learning outcomes. This study aims to investigate the perspective of medical students regarding teaching as a core competency of physicians and peer-teaching as an opportunity to acquire educational skills. The study also aims to examine to what extent medical students are prepared for their teaching role at medical schools.

This cross-sectional study was performed by an online survey amongst Dutch medical students from all medical schools across all years of study. In total, 2666 medical students filled out the survey. The survey was part of the annual online survey of the Dutch medical advocacy group (DeGeneeskundestudent) amongst all medical students in the fall of 2017. The data were analysed with descriptive statistics and statistical tests (chi-squared-test and binomial test).

The results show that 49% of medical students see teaching as one of the core tasks of a physician. However, only 25% feel well prepared by their medical school for this teaching role. Instead, there are many students who gain experiences and teaching skills on their own outside medical schools. 64% of the respondents agrees that senior medical students can educate junior medical students well.

Conclusions

Implementing peer-teaching in the curricular of medical schools could be an effective teaching method to prepare medical students for their future teaching role. It is important that medical schools focus on enhancing educational quality and designing learning environments for best learning outcomes to better prepare medical students for professional life.

Peer Review reports

The teaching role of physicians is a core competency in the new Dutch Medical Training Framework: “Physicians contribute as academics to the application, spread, translation and proliferation of knowledge in practice through lifelong learning, training others, evaluating evidence and contributing to scientific research” [ 1 ]. Every physician must be able to “create a safe learning environment”, “provide a teaching activity” and “constructively evaluate teaching activities to improve education” [ 1 ]. After all, every physician engages in educational activities in one way or another. It has been shown that a general practitioner spends up to 20% of his consultation time on patient education and a medical specialist up to 10% of his time on supervising residents or medical students [ 2 , 3 ]. Physicians play an important role in providing information and transferring knowledge to patients and medical students. Therefore, parallel to clinical skills the acquisition of educational skills should begin in medical school and continue throughout postgraduate training [ 4 ].

Educational skills are best developed by doing it yourself [ 5 , 6 ]. Peer-teaching, i.e. students teaching other students, is a method for medical students to practice teaching in a controlled environment [ 6 ]. In some medical faculties, both in the Netherlands and other countries, peer-teaching is a regular part of medical school [ 7 , 8 ]. To develop medical students’ teaching skills, peer-teaching programmes, teaching workshops, and community outreach programmes are used [ 9 ]. Many medical schools in the United States offer formal students-as-teachers (SAT) programmes, where students are assigned educational roles such as peer mentors, teaching assistants or contributing to the development of a curriculum design. These programmes benefit the students’ teaching skills, improve their clinical knowledge and communication- and professional skills. Peer-teachers can benefit from peer-teaching experiences in many ways. Teaching offers a chance to identify personal strengths and weaknesses by preparing complex medical knowledge, organizing classes, enhancing public speaking skills, giving- and receiving feedback, working in a team and leading near-peer students [ 6 , 7 , 8 , 10 , 11 ]. By actively participating in their training the medical students’ intrinsic motivation is improved [ 12 , 13 ].

In a recent non-randomized controlled trial by Veloso et al. (2019), it was shown that medical students who taught Basic Life Support skills to community health professionals had a better theoretical and practical performance in Basic Life Support, than medical students who didn’t teach these skills [ 14 ]. Peer-teaching is further supported by studies that have found no difference in medical students’ academic achievements when taught by peer-teachers or faculty staff. While peer-teachers are considered less knowledgeable than faculty staff, students actually feel more at ease asking questions and, due to peer-teachers being regarded as more approachable, they are better understood and guided in comprehending difficult topics [ 11 , 14 , 15 , 16 ]. A final reason for implementation of peer -teaching programmes is the rise in student numbers. Peer-teachers offer a solution to overcome the strained teaching capacity of faculty staff [ 11 , 17 ].

There is evidence that former peer-teaching physicians become more engaged in educational activities. A study by Kloek et al. (2016) indicated that these physicians themselves highly appreciated the teaching internship and are likely committed to building an educational career in their future professional life [ 18 ].

Unfortunately, little is known about the perspective of medical students regarding teaching as a physician and peer-teaching. This perspective is relevant to facilitate the introduction of peer-teaching by medical schools and better prepare medical students for their future teaching role as a physician. It is relevant to assess medical students’ perspective on the teaching role of physicians and their educational activities during medical school. Therefore, this study aims to gain insight into medical students´ opinion on teaching as a physician and peer teaching by answering the following research questions:

To what extent do medical students consider teaching a core competency of a physician?

How and to what extent are medical students prepared for teaching as a physician during medical school?

Study design and participants

This study has a cross-sectional design and is performed by an online survey amongst medical students.

The research population comprised of Dutch medical students from all medical schools across all years of study. In the Netherlands, there are eight medical schools that offer a six-year undergraduate medical training. The undergraduate program is divided in a three year Bachelor, with mostly theoretical education, and a three year Master, with both theoretical educations and clerkships.

The survey started with a general section on gender, university and study-phase. Next, five questions asked for the participants view regarding (the preparation for) teaching as a physician and peer-teaching (see Tables  1 and 2 ). The questions were grounded in literature [ 17 ]. Four questions were answered on a five-point Likert scale (strongly agree- strongly disagree), in which answer option 3 means “neutral” and for the question “older students can teach younger year medical students well” also “no experience”. The final question was a binary question (yes/no).

The survey was part of the annual online survey of the Dutch medical advocacy group (DeGeneeskundestudent) amongst all medical students in the fall of 2017. Participants voluntarily filled out the questionnaire and informed consent was given for anonymous use of the data.

Data analysis

Before data-analysis we excluded the following participants. Participants with an abbreviated medical study were excluded because they had already finished a wide range of different previous bachelor-studies. Participants who had not filled out the general section were excluded as well. The results were analysed with SPSS version 25. The general section was analysed with descriptive statistics. The study population was compared with available national data on medical students regarding gender, study-phase and university [ 19 , 20 ]. The questions on the participants view answered on a Likert scale were dichotomised to agree (strongly agree-agree) and disagree (strongly disagree-disagree). In the analysis, we left out the responses to category 3 to get an impression of students’ positive or negative attitude towards peer-teaching and, regarding question 2, to avoid bias from people who have no experience with it giving an opinion. The results were analysed with descriptive statistics. The participants view according to different gender, study-phase or university was analysed with a chi-squared-test or binomial test. The binary question on the participants view was analysed with descriptive statistics. The participants view according to different gender, study-phase or university was analysed with a chi-squared-test. The outcome of all tests was significant if p  < 0.05.

Respondents´ characteristics

The respondents´ characteristics are shown in Table  3 . A total of 2666 medical students filled out the survey. The percentage of male respondents was lower than the national average, 23% versus 34%, as well as the percentage of master students, 47% versus 53%. The percentage of respondents from the University of Amsterdam (UvA), Vrije Universiteit (VU) and Rotterdam was slightly lower than the national average, while the percentage of respondents from Groningen, Leiden and Nijmegen was higher than the national average. The distribution of respondents across years of study is similar to the distribution in the overall population.

View on teaching as a physician and peer-teaching

The results on teaching as a physician and peer-teaching are shown in Tables  1 and 2 . Significant results are highlighted in the paragraph below.

Teaching as a physician

49% of the respondents agrees that teaching is a core responsibility of a physician, while 22% of the respondents disagrees. Male respondents agree more often than female respondents, 58% versus 47%, as well as respondents in the master phase than respondents in the bachelor phase, 64% versus 35%. Agreement of respondents from different universities was between 43% and 56%.

• Peer-teaching

64% of the respondents agrees that senior medical students can educate junior medical students well, while 13% of the respondents disagrees. Respondents in the master phase disagree more often than respondents in the bachelor phase, 13% versus 11%. Agreement of respondents from different universities was between 53% and 75%.

View on preparation for teaching as a physician

The results on preparation for teaching as a physician by the formal education and respondents’ own experience are shown in Tables  1 and 2 . Table  4 shows the respondents own experience with teaching. Significant results are highlighted in the paragraph below.

Formal education

27% of the respondents agrees that the medical education prepares them well for teaching as a physician, while 39% disagrees. Male respondents agree more often than female respondents, 36% versus 24%. Respondents in the master phase disagree more often than respondents in the bachelor phase, 46% versus 33%. Agreement of respondents from different universities was between 19% and 33%.

Own experience

48% of the respondents agrees that their own experience with teaching prepares them well for teaching as a physician, while 22% disagrees. Male respondents agree more often than female respondents, 62% versus 44%. Respondents in the master phase agree more often than respondents in the bachelor phase, 56% versus 40%. Agreement of respondents from different universities was between 39% and 56%.

52% of the respondents have teaching experience. Male respondents more often have experience than female respondents, 59% versus 51%, as well as respondents in the master phase than the bachelor phase, 63% versus 42%. The percentage of respondents from different universities with teaching experience varies between 44% and 60%.

Of the respondents with teaching experience, 13% have experience as peer-teacher, 11% as part of the formal education and 37% outside the formal education. Male respondents have more experience than female respondents with teaching outside the formal education, 42% versus 36%, and as peer-teacher, 16% versus 12%. Respondents in the master phase have more experience in all manners of teaching than respondents in the bachelor phase. The percentage of respondents from different universities with teaching experience varies, as peer-teacher (4 − 17%), as part of the curriculum (6 − 21%) and outside the formal education (33-45%).

Half of medical students feel that teaching is one of the core tasks of a physician. Unfortunately, only 25% feel well prepared by their medical school for this teaching role. This is in line with the literature that students would benefit from more preparation in this area [ 21 , 22 ]. It is striking that students who are more advanced in their studies feel less prepared than students who are at the beginning of medical school. The explanation for this may be that older students have more insight into the complexity of the teaching task because they have more experience with the physicians who teach or have had some experience of this themselves. It is contradictory that on the one hand students are aware of their later teaching role and responsibility but on the other hand do not feel adequately prepared for this role. A core task of physicians is to provide knowledge, experiences and skills to different learning groups, e.g. to medical students, patients and other professionals and should therefore be a relevant part of medical education programs.

Almost half of the students feel well prepared for their later teaching role from their own experience. They look for teaching opportunities themselves in anatomy or skills courses or as a secondary job [ 23 ]. They agree that their own experience with teaching prepares them well for teaching as a physician. This finding highlights the importance of providing appropriate learning opportunities during medical education. Students engaging as peer-teachers have the chance to gain extracurricular experiences that are relevant not only for professional practice but also to strengthen soft skills and interdisciplinary competencies. Teaching experiences are beneficial in many ways, increase teaching skills, intensify knowledge, increase organizational and communication skills and enhance leading and speaking skills that are relevant for daily practice [ 6 , 7 , 8 , 10 , 11 , 24 ].

A large majority of medical students think that older students are good at teaching younger ones. At some universities, students have a more positive image of peer-teaching than at others. It is useful to find out whether these faculties use peer-teaching more as a teaching method.

Thus, medical students’ own views on peer-teaching do not seem to be an impediment to using peer-teaching to learn the role of a teacher. This is also in line with the literature on peer-teaching showing different advantages of learning from other students [ 11 , 25 ]. First, peer-teachers are closer to the student in experience. Therefore, they can better understand what the students find difficult and they also understand the knowledge level of the students better, compared to, for example, medical specialists [ 15 ]. In addition, peer-teachers can create a safe educational climate in which mistakes are allowed and questions can be asked, because peer-teacher are perceived as less threatening [ 15 ]. Peer-teachers and students both can profit from peer-teaching settings.

The use of students as teachers can improve teaching capacities and is also connected to economic aspects. To secure high standards in the quality of education in medical schools, peer-teaching programs should be accompanied by training and supervision [ 11 , 17 ].

A strength of this research project is that it is a cross-section of all Dutch universities and all study years. Therefore, the results give a good picture of the opinion of Dutch medical students. Furthermore, the study focuses on the perspective of medical students. This perspective can be beneficial for gaining insights into medical students’ opinions and for designing adequate learning environments in medical schools. A limitation is that due to the nature of the survey, questionnaires with multiple choice questions, it only provides a global picture. Furthermore, male and bachelor students participated significantly less, which may distort the results. Future research can focus on a comparison between universities with and without formal education in the study program in the area of teaching skills. Furthermore, follow-up research should focus on assessing gender differences. Interviews or focus groups can also provide insight into the motivation and argumentation of the students to gain deeper insights into students’ perceptions. Additionally, further research should also include medical teachers, professionals at medical schools, experts and physicians to gain multiple perspectives. It is also important to focus on the effectiveness of peer-teaching programs in comparison to other learning methods, particularly from a long-term perspective. As teaching skills are a core competence of physicians for daily practice, assessing learning opportunities and methods for physicians in the context of continuing education should also be taken into account.

Many medical students see teaching as a core task of physicians and are aware of their later teaching role. However, a large proportion of them, especially the students in the last phase of their studies, feel that their medical school program has not adequately prepared them for this role. Instead, there are many students who gain experiences and teaching skills on their own initiative outside medical schools. Preparing medical students for their educational tasks and supporting them in the acquisition of teaching skills should be an essential part of their education. The majority of medical students think that senior students can educate junior medical students well. Therefore, implementing peer-teaching in the curricular of medical schools could be an effective teaching method for learning success. In a broader context, preparing medical students for their teaching role can be beneficial for the patient-medicine relationship and the provision of knowledge and health competency for patients. This study and the literature show that peer teaching, combined with good supervision and feedback, is a good way to prepare medical students for the future teaching role. It is important that medical schools focus on enhancing educational quality and designing beneficial and positive learning environments for best learning outcomes to better prepare medical students for professional life.

Data availability

The datasets generated and/or analysed during the current study are not publicly available due to data protection guidelines of the institution but are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Abbreviations

students-as-teachers

Universiteit van Amsterdam

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank all the students who participated in the survey.

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Vilente, Doorwerth, Netherlands

Bas PH ter Brugge

School of Medicine and Health, Technical University of Munich, TUM Medical Education Center, Munich, Germany

Lena Sophia Fegg & Marjo Wijnen-Meijer

Institute of Medical Education, Medical Faculty and University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, TUD Dresden University of Technology, Fetscherstraße 74, 01307, Dresden, Germany

Marjo Wijnen-Meijer

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BtB, LSF and MWM designed and run the study and collected the data. BtB and MWM analysed the data and drafted the manuscript. All authors contributed to the critical revision of the manuscript and read and approved the submitted version.

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Correspondence to Marjo Wijnen-Meijer .

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The survey was anonymous and voluntary. All students received information on the nature, purpose and procedure of the survey and their right to withhold or revoke their consent at any time. Participants voluntarily filled out the questionnaire and informed consent was given for anonymous use of the data. Ethical approval was obtained in 2017 from the Ethical Review Board of the Dutch Association for Medical Education.

All methods were carried out in accordance with Declaration of Helsinki.

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ter Brugge, B.P., Fegg, L.S. & Wijnen-Meijer, M. Preparing medical students for their educational task as physicians: important, desirable and unexplored territory. BMC Med Educ 24 , 391 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-024-05328-y

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Received : 26 May 2023

Accepted : 19 March 2024

Published : 09 April 2024

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-024-05328-y

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Opinion Guest Essay

Teaching Patients How to Heal

Madiwalappa Saranappa Hosamani recovers at home with his wife in Bengaluru after open-heart surgery. Credit...

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By Vidya Krishnan

Photographs by Gayatri Ganju

Ms. Krishnan, a journalist based in Goa, India, and Ms. Ganju, a photographer based in Bengaluru, India, reported from Bengaluru.

• April 12, 2024

By around 2 p.m., just after lunch, activity at the critical care unit of the Jayadeva hospital in Bengaluru, India, is at an ebb. No one is running down the halls with X-rays, bills or samples of body fluids to be tested. The morning rounds are over. The doctors are gone, and the nursing shift has just changed.

That’s when Girish Balakrishnappa walks in. He is a staff nurse but has the demeanor of a teacher. He starts off by asking everyone to put their phones on silent and gather around. Patients who can walk drag chairs toward him. Those who can’t walk sit up in their beds. Others are asleep, their family members taking notes for them.

Over the next hour, the nurses, physicians and technicians fall back, ceding the floor to Mr. Balakrishnappa as the ward morphs into an intensive care unit classroom. The students are anxious cardiac care patients, some of whom have only just awakened from open-heart surgery, and their even more anxious families. Mr. Balakrishnappa will tell them how to cough without stressing their hearts, how to scratch without ripping open their wounds and how a pacemaker works.

He will explain that having open-heart surgery does not mean the doctors will remove the heart. In India, where health care walks hand in hand with superstition, myths and luck, Mr. Balakrishnappa helps patients sift through good and bad information — a matter of life and death both inside a critical care ward and after patients are discharged.

This ad hoc classroom is part of a decade-long experiment unfolding in Asia that has been testing a simple yet radical idea: If patients are most comforted by their loved ones, why not involve them in the medical process and see how that affects recovery?

This approach also emerged as part of a solution to the enduring problems faced by health systems across the world that were battered by the Covid-19 pandemic. The World Health Organization estimates that between 80,000 and 180,000 health care workers may have died of Covid-19 between January 2020 to May 2021, which created a dangerous shortage in the work force.

Today, India has one doctor for every 834 people, compared with a rate of around 2.4 doctors for every 1,000 people in the United States. But only 80 percent of Indian doctors are allopathic, or practicing Western medicine. The rest practice traditional healing such as Ayurveda, naturopathy, homeopathy or Unani medicine. Similar shortages plague India’s nursing industry, where there are just 1.7 nurses per 1,000 people, compared with 12.7 in the United States.

Those numbers are important, but the lesson behind them is equally so: how a lack of communication between doctors and patients affects patient health. According to Noora Health, which has introduced its “care companion” program in hundreds of hospitals and thousands of clinics in India, Bangladesh and Indonesia, when medical information is properly communicated to patients and their families, not only are common post-surgery complications reduced, but so are acts of violence by frustrated family members against health care workers.

“We realized that caregivers get little to no guidance within the health care system,” said Shahed Alam, a co-founder of Noora Health, a Bengaluru-based nonprofit. “Many patients do not know why they are in the hospital, what’s going to be done to them. Doctors and nurses go from patient to patient, repeating the same information.”

By training hospital staff to train patients and their family members, he added, “It reduces the palpable anxiety in the ward.”

During the pandemic, Noora Health’s work became even more relevant: The lockdown turned family members into primary care givers for Covid-19 patients and for those with complex illnesses like tuberculosis and cardiac problems. The organization responded by expanding virtual training programs and developing new guidelines for respiratory hygiene, mental health and health care worker safety.

Many patients and their family members come to see Mr. Balakrishnappa as a therapist, coach, friend and philosopher all rolled into one. He teaches patients about everything from managing their side effects to the importance of hand washing. He wraps up each class with breathing exercises.

At the end of each class, Mr. Balakrishnappa takes questions, most of which are about diet and the side-effects of medicines. Some patients wonder how much longer they will be in the I.C.U. He patiently answers every question. By the end of their stay, patients and families have fortified their bonds by sharing the sacred space of life and death.

“There is strength in this. They form human connections that are needed to survive their medical conditions,” Mr. Balakrishnappa explained to me. After a full day of teaching patients how to navigate the hospital, he catches a quick lunch in the canteen when I sit down with him. I ask him if he gets bored repeating the same things over and over.

“Never. If I get bored, people lose lives,” he replied. “Most of my patients are not educated, don’t speak English, and it is important that they have all the information they need, or else they will not make a full recovery.”

Patients, too, tell me that the time they spend with Mr. Balakrishnappa is the high point of their day — and having high points inside a hospital is no small thing. I asked Dilip Kumar, a 9-year-old boy who spent a month in the I.C.U. after being treated for a hole in his heart, what was the most helpful advice he received. He thinks for a bit before explaining that Mr. Balakrishnappa had warned him he’d be scared when he woke up after surgery in the recovery ward.

“He told me to not to panic or pull at the wire attached to me and told me that my mom will not be allowed inside the ward,” Dilip replied, “and that I have to be twice as brave inside the operating theater and in the recovery ward, where I’ll be alone. But only for a bit.”

Three days after his discharge, I visited Dilip at home in the gold-mining district of Kolar, outside Bengaluru. His favorite thing about being home was that he was not “cold all the time due to the air-conditioner.” He was still wearing his face mask, as Mr. Balakrishnappa had instructed. It covered most of his tiny face but it was easy to tell when he smiled — the kind of smile many children have that goes from their mouth to their eyes.

His mother, Manjula, was making sure everyone in the family was following hand hygiene as taught at the hospital. She told me that Dilip missed the nursing staff and, “of course, Girish.” She missed him too, she added. “He was a friend, and it was unexpected to make friends at such a big hospital,” she said, adding that they talk about Mr. Balakrishnappa at home all the time.

“Without him, I would not have been able to go through this,” she said. “He taught me how to take care of my child.”

Vidya Krishnan (@ VidyaKrishnan ) is a journalist based in Goa, India, who specializes in health issues. She is the author of “The Phantom Plague: How Tuberculosis Shaped History.”

Gayatri Ganju is a photographer based in Bengaluru, India. Her editorial and personal works address gender and the environment. She received the Photography Award from the Musée du Quai Branly in 2022 and is currently a Magnum fellow.

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