Clinical Sciences Department, West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine, Lewisburg, WV, USA.
Division of Vascular Surgery, Department of Surgery, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Am Surg. 2023 May;89(5):1744-1748. doi: 10.1177/00031348221079043. Epub 2022 Feb 15.
Herein we describe the development, implementation, and growth of our Vascular Research Training Program (VRTP), emphasizing the intentional involvement of medical students in clinical research.
We developed a VRTP focusing on medical student engagement to encompass 4 pillars: ownership, mentorship, experience, and independence within the research process. The program is organized by clinical projects with an attending surgeon, surgical trainee (fellow or resident), and medical student comprising each research project team. The VRTP program sought to facilitate a culture of learning, accountability, and mentorship to engage and encourage medical student involvement in clinical research.
We reviewed the productivity of our current vascular surgery faculty by reviewing divisional records of faculty publications and conducting a literature search for the period of 2012 to 2019. The pre-VRTP model produced 13 included manuscripts in 2012-2015 (3.25 per year), while the implemented VRTP model yielded 43 articles (10.75 per year) from 2016-2019. There was no significant change in the impact factor (pre-VRTP mean ± SD was 1.8 ± 1.0 vs 2.2 ± 1.1, = .17). Medical student productivity rose from 1.3 to 2.7 publications, with a similar rise in the number of students participating in more than one manuscript from 2 to 14.
Deliberate involvement of medical trainees as a member of the clinical research team has the potential to generate subsequent increases in research productivity and effective mentorships. Academic surgical divisions should consider organized and intentional involvement of medical students as an essential component of clinical research.
本文描述了我们的血管研究培训计划（VRTP）的发展、实施和增长，重点强调了让医学生参与临床研究的有意参与。
我们开发了一个专注于医学生参与的 VRTP，包括 4 个支柱：在研究过程中的所有权、指导、经验和独立性。该计划由临床项目组成，每个项目都有一名主治外科医生、外科受训者（研究员或住院医师）和医学生组成每个研究项目团队。VRTP 计划旨在促进学习、责任和指导文化，以吸引和鼓励医学生参与临床研究。
我们通过审查部门出版物记录和对 2012 年至 2019 年期间的文献进行检索，审查了我们当前血管外科教师的生产力。在 VRTP 实施之前的模型在 2012-2015 年期间产生了 13 篇包含的手稿（每年 3.25 篇），而实施后的 VRTP 模型在 2016-2019 年期间产生了 43 篇文章（每年 10.75 篇）。影响因子没有显著变化（VRTP 实施前的平均值±标准差为 1.8±1.0，而实施后的平均值±标准差为 2.2±1.1， =.17）。医学生的生产力从 1.3 篇增加到 2.7 篇，参与超过一篇手稿的学生人数也从 2 人增加到 14 人。
有意让医学受训者作为临床研究团队的成员参与，有可能提高研究生产力和有效的指导。学术外科部门应考虑将医学生的有组织、有意参与作为临床研究的一个重要组成部分。
