Medical Education Unit, School of Medicine, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.
Clin Teach. 2022 Apr;19(2):86-91. doi: 10.1111/tct.13453. Epub 2022 Jan 12.
The Covid-19 pandemic forced undergraduate medical students and staff to adapt and adjust to new strategies for conducting research. The aim of this study was to investigate its impact on student research opportunities across Irish and UK medical schools and how these programmes have responded, both in terms of innovation and practical solutions.
A 17-item online mixed methods survey was distributed to academic staff across 31 Irish and UK medical schools. Participants were asked about (a) the effect of the pandemic on undergraduate research teaching and project opportunities, (b) measures taken to mitigate pandemic effects on these curricular elements. Descriptive analysis was used to summarise quantitative data, and free-text responses were thematically grouped.
We received a 66.74% (n = 21) response rate to our survey. Over 75% of respondents stated that the availability of clinical research, lab-based research, summer research programmes and QI/clinical audit projects was negatively impacted by Covid-19. Mitigation strategies included adaptation and adjustment in design of research projects; migration to online content delivery and collaborative platforms; virtualisation of research dissemination opportunities; increased workload for staff involved in delivery of research programmes; flexibility around assessment of research-based assignments; and importance of open communication.
Covid-19 has affected traditional clinical research opportunities for medical students, particularly patient-facing projects, as well as laboratory-based research options. Mitigation strategies included the introduction of time- and cost-efficient virtual data collection methods. Some of these innovations have potential for ongoing and future development, but others are short-term responsive solutions that may prove less sustainable.
新冠疫情迫使本科医学生和教职员工适应并调整研究策略。本研究旨在调查疫情对爱尔兰和英国医学院学生研究机会的影响，以及这些项目在创新和实际解决方案方面的应对措施。
对 31 所爱尔兰和英国医学院的学术人员进行了一项 17 项在线混合方法调查。参与者被问及(a)疫情对本科研究教学和项目机会的影响，(b)为减轻这些课程要素受疫情影响而采取的措施。采用描述性分析总结定量数据，对自由文本回复进行主题分组。
我们收到了 66.74%（n=21）的调查回复率。超过 75%的受访者表示，临床研究、实验室研究、暑期研究计划和质量改进/临床审核项目的可获得性受到了新冠疫情的负面影响。缓解策略包括调整研究项目设计；转向在线内容交付和协作平台；研究传播机会的虚拟化；参与研究项目交付的员工工作量增加；研究型作业评估的灵活性；以及公开沟通的重要性。
新冠疫情影响了医学生传统的临床研究机会，特别是面向患者的项目，以及实验室研究选择。缓解策略包括引入高效省时的虚拟数据收集方法。其中一些创新具有持续和未来发展的潜力，但其他则是短期响应性解决方案，可能不太可持续。
