What will it take? Pathways, time and funding: Australian medical students’ perspective on clinician-scientist training

Autor: Charmaine Jensen, Diann Eley, Ranjeny Thomas, Helen Benham
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2017
Předmět:
Male
Biomedical Research
Students
Medical
020205 medical informatics
lcsh:Medicine
Clinician-scientist
02 engineering and technology
Barriers to research careers
0302 clinical medicine
Research career decision making
Health care
0202 electrical engineering
electronic engineering
information engineering
030212 general & internal medicine
health care economics and organizations
media_common
lcsh:LC8-6691
Clinician scientist
Career Choice
4. Education
General Medicine
Integrated approach
Middle Aged
Investment (macroeconomics)
Training pathways
Research Personnel
3. Good health
MD-PhD
Evaluation Studies as Topic
Female
Psychology
Research Article
Specialization
Adult
media_common.quotation_subject
education
Qualitative property
Training (civil)
Education
03 medical and health sciences
Young Adult
Perception
Humans
Medical education
lcsh:Special aspects of education
business.industry
Perspective (graphical)
lcsh:R
Australia
Research training
Training Support
Medical students
Cross-Sectional Studies
Education
Medical
Graduate
Clinical Medicine
business
Zdroj: BMC Medical Education
BMC Medical Education, Vol 17, Iss 1, Pp 1-9 (2017)
ISSN: 1472-6920
Popis: Background Clinician-scientists are in decline worldwide. They represent a unique niche in medicine by bridging the gap between scientific discovery and patient care. A national, integrated approach to training clinician-scientists, typically programs that comprise a comprehensive MD-PhD pathway, are customary. Such a pathway is lacking in Australia. The objective was to gather perceptions from Australian medical students on factors they perceive would influence their decision to pursue clinician-scientist training. Methods A cross-sectional mixed methods design used quantitative and qualitative questions in an online self-report survey with medical students from a four-year MD program. Quantitative measures comprised scaled response questions regarding prior experience and current involvement in research, and short- and long-term opinions about factors that influence their decisions to undertake a research higher degree (RHD) during medical school. Qualitative questions gathered broader perceptions of what a career pathway as a clinician-scientist would include and what factors are most conducive to a medical student’s commitment to MD-PhD training. Results Respondents (N = 418; 51% female) indicated Time, Funding and Pathway as the major themes arising from the qualitative data, highlighting negative perceptions rather than possible benefits to RHD training. The lack of an evident Pathway was inter-related to Time and Funding. Themes were supported by the quantitative data. Sixty percent of students have previous research experience of varying forms, and 90% report a current interest, mainly to improve their career prospects. Conclusions The data emphasise the need for an MD-PhD pathway in Australia. A model that provides an early, integrated, and exclusive approach to research training pathways across all stages of medical education is suggested as the best way to rejuvenate the clinician-scientist. A national pathway that addresses factors influencing career decision making throughout the medical education continuum should include an appropriate funding structure, and provide early and continuing advice and mentoring. It should be flexible, gender equitable, and include post-graduate training. The implications of implementing MD-PhD programs represent a substantial investment. However this should not be a deterrent to Australia’s commitment to an MD-PhD pathway, but rather a challenge to help ensure our future healthcare is guided by highly trained and competent clinician-scientists.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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