Abstract Manager

Oral

OC1-3-4

no

General Call (Workshop, Oral Presentation, Poster Presentation)

Oral

Education Innovation

Student

yes

Peer Mentorship to RE-ignite the SEARCH in Students for Research

Research is an integral part of medical education across the globe. However, the research output from medical students often leaves a lot to be desired. This can be attributed to inadequate research training, and lack of mentors and opportunities. Thus, our innovative approach of introducing peer mentorship in research aims to increase not only the self-proficiency of students but also the quality and quantity of research.

A predefined criterion was used to select 16 penultimate and final year medical students to serve as Student Mentors (SMs). They designed innovative pedagogies, conducted a series of research workshops (RWs) for 187 participants in January 2020 at the Aga Khan University, Pakistan, and mentored them for 6 months. Data was collected through three questionnaires; pre- and post-RWs self-proficiency ratings (lowest: 1- highest: 10), a feedback form, and a 6-month follow-up survey.

With a response rate of 92%, a significant improvement was seen in overall self-proficiency post-RWs (p < 0.001), with the highest increase in 'Avoiding Plagiarism and Using Referencing' (4.78 ± 2.31). A 6-month follow-up survey evidenced an increase in student involvement in research by 29.2% (p < 0.001). 18 (20.5%) students published their work in peer-reviewed journals (mean impact factor =1.393) versus only 3 (3.4%) pre-RWs (p < 0.001). These results establish the effectiveness of peer-learning and student mentorship in improving the research output. Additionally, the teaching pedagogies implemented in the RWs can be used as a solid framework for adaptation within conventional undergraduate medical education.

Peer Mentorship

Research Curriculum

Teaching Pedagogies

Undergraduate

Undergraduate

Assessment

Inter-professional Education

Leadership

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes