The process of faculty-mentored student research in family medicine: motives and lessons.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Research suggests that the strongest predictor of postgraduate research activity is medical student research involvement. Yet many medical students still regard family medicine as a "nonresearch" specialty. The purposes of this study were to discover what motivated a group of first-year medical students (and their faculty mentors) to participate in a summer research assistantship and how both groups evaluated the challenges and satisfactions of the experience.

METHODS

The study used a grounded theory qualitative methodology that emphasizes an in-depth, inductive approach to evaluation research. Over a 2-year period, 11 first-year medical students who participated in a summer research assistantship and their 10 faculty mentors completed written questionnaires and were interviewed by our research team. Various categories of analysis were constructed and refined over the course of the study to explain the raw data collected through interviews, written questionnaires, and field notes.

RESULTS

Findings included identification of a core theme or meaning that motivated participation in the project for students and faculty. This theme was expressed in terms of professional, personal, relational, and societal goals. The study also identified three interrelated mechanisms (socialization, relationship, and technical skill transmission) used in varying degrees by students and faculty to achieve these goals.

CONCLUSION

In addition to technical mastery and knowledge, students were actively seeking professional relationships with faculty mentors, greater understanding of other peoples and cultures, and increased self-understanding and self-esteem. Junior and senior faculty reflected differing and multilevel motivations for participating in a research assistantship program.