School of Health Professions Education, Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands.
National Centre for Health Professions Education Development, Peking University, Beijing, China.
Med Educ Online. 2022 Dec;27(1):2100039. doi: 10.1080/10872981.2022.2100039.
Medical student research engagement has been considered as a critical component of undergraduate medical education. However, evidence on the association between medical student research engagement with learning outcomes is lacking. The objectives of our study are: (1) to outline the landscape of medical student research engagement in China; (2) to explore the association between medical student research engagement and learning outcomes, and whether this association is different among students with different characteristics. A paper questionnaire was developed, piloted, and administered to medical students at 33 medical schools in China. Research engagement was measured by the times students engaged in research projects while learning outcomes referred to learning outcomes contained in the Standards for Basic Medical Education in China. Chi-square tests were used to measure statistical significance between research engagement and the characteristics of participants. We analysed relationships between research engagement and learning outcomes using multivariate linear regression with medical school fixed effects. The overall response rate was 86.7%. 10,062 medical students completed the questionnaire, 55.5% of which had participated in one or more research projects. Research engagement differed by the length of the program, gender, and academic performance. Research engagement was also positively associated with students' overall learning outcomes, especially in the Science and Scholarship domain (once, β = 0.20, 0.001; twice or more, β = 0.43, < 0.001) and the Professionalism domain (once, β = 0.12, < 0.05; twice or more, β = 0.25, < 0.01). The relationships between research engagement and learning outcomes differed significantly by gender. Medical student research engagement is significantly positively associated with medical students' learning outcomes, especially in the Science and Scholarship domain and the Professionalism domain. Besides, men benefit more from engaging in research projects, particularly in the Science and scholarship domain.
医学生的研究参与被认为是本科医学教育的一个关键组成部分。然而，医学生研究参与与学习成果之间的关联的证据尚缺乏。我们研究的目的是：（1）概述中国医学生研究参与的现状；（2）探索医学生研究参与与学习成果之间的关联，以及这种关联在具有不同特征的学生中是否不同。我们开发了一份纸质问卷，并在中国 33 所医学院校进行了试点和实施。研究参与度通过学生在学习过程中参与研究项目的次数来衡量，而学习成果则指的是《中国本科医学教育标准》中包含的学习成果。卡方检验用于衡量研究参与度与参与者特征之间的统计学意义。我们使用多元线性回归和医学院固定效应分析研究参与度与学习成果之间的关系。总的回复率为 86.7%。10062 名医学生完成了问卷，其中 55.5%的学生参加过一个或多个研究项目。研究参与度因项目长度、性别和学业成绩而异。研究参与度与学生的整体学习成果呈正相关，特别是在科学与学术领域（一次，β=0.20，0.001；两次或以上，β=0.43，<0.001）和专业精神领域（一次，β=0.12，<0.05；两次或以上，β=0.25，<0.01）。研究参与度与学习成果之间的关系在性别上存在显著差异。医学生的研究参与与他们的学习成果显著正相关，特别是在科学与学术领域和专业精神领域。此外，男性从参与研究项目中获益更多，尤其是在科学和学术领域。
