Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Tygerberg, Western Cape, South Africa.
Centre for Evidence Based Health Care, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Tygerberg, Western Cape, South Africa.
BMC Med Educ. 2017 Oct 16;17(1):186. doi: 10.1186/s12909-017-1025-x.
The development of research capacity among undergraduates is an important intervention in countering the documented decrease in medical and health sciences researchers. The literature on undergraduate research generally emanates from smaller scale studies that have been conducted in high income countries, with a focus on medical students. This cross-sectional study was conducted in a Sub-Saharan country, included a population of medical and allied health professions (AHP) students, and aimed to improve our understanding of the factors influencing undergraduate student research.
A questionnaire was distributed to all students enrolled in an undergraduate programme at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa (including Medicine and four AHP programmes). Data was collected on a number of demographic characteristics and on 3 major outcome-themes: "voluntary research involvement", "self-perceived research competence" and "future research participation". Associations between characteristics and outcome themes were explored.
In total, 1815 students participated in the study (response rate 80.2%). Of all the demographic variables, discipline (AHP programmes vs. Medicine), male gender and prior undergraduate experience in a science degree were significantly associated with voluntary research involvement. Significantly higher levels of self-perceived research competence and greater interest in future research participation, were seen among participants from AHP programmes; males; and those with previous or current voluntary research involvement. Ethnicity and geographic background were not significantly associated with any of our outcomes.
Our results offer important new evidence in support of the imperative to diversify the research work-force, in Sub-Saharan Africa and globally. Enhanced efforts aimed at achieving better academic representation in terms of gender, ethnicity, geographical and socio-economic backgrounds are strengthened by the findings of this study. Potential student researchers represent an important group amenable to further intervention. Further research may be required to explore the factors that determine the progression from interest to future participation in research.
在本科生中培养研究能力是对抗医学和健康科学研究人员减少的重要干预措施。关于本科生研究的文献通常来自于在高收入国家进行的小规模研究，主要集中在医学生身上。本横断面研究在撒哈拉以南非洲国家进行，包括医学和辅助健康专业（AHP）的学生，旨在增进我们对影响本科生研究的因素的理解。
我们向开普敦斯坦陵布什大学医学院和健康科学系所有本科生发放了问卷，包括医学和四个 AHP 课程。收集了一些人口统计学特征和三个主要结果主题的数据：“自愿参与研究”、“自我感知的研究能力”和“未来参与研究”。探讨了特征与结果主题之间的关联。
共有 1815 名学生参加了这项研究（应答率为 80.2%）。在所有人口统计学变量中，学科（AHP 课程与医学）、男性性别和以前的科学学位本科经历与自愿参与研究显著相关。与医学专业相比，来自 AHP 课程的参与者、男性和有以前或当前自愿参与研究经历的参与者，自我感知的研究能力水平更高，对未来参与研究的兴趣更大。种族和地理背景与我们的任何结果都没有显著关联。
我们的结果为在撒哈拉以南非洲和全球范围内使研究人员队伍多样化的必要性提供了重要的新证据。本研究的结果为在性别、种族、地理和社会经济背景方面实现更好的学术代表性的努力提供了支持。有潜力的学生研究人员是一个重要的可干预群体。可能需要进一步研究来探讨决定从兴趣到未来参与研究的因素。
