Abstract
BackgroundEarly involvement of students in research processes is an important step in professional development and can increase the academic output of the university. Previous studies indicate low research involvement amongst undergraduate students, however limited research has been done in sub-Saharan Africa. This study aimed to describe the level of research involvement amongst undergraduate students at the College of Medicine and Health Sciences (CMHS) at University of Rwanda (UR) and to assess factors associated with research involvement.MethodsThis cross-sectional study covered the three CMHS campuses. A survey was shared in class WhatsApp groups from July to September 2020. Data were analyzed using Stata IC 16.0 with descriptive statistics and Fisher’s exact test. P-values < 0.05 were considered statistically significant.ResultsIn total, 324 students participated with the mean age being 23.3 (standard deviation 2.27). Males constituted 65.1% of respondents vs. 33.3% females. The largest portion of respondents were from the School of Medicine and Pharmacy (46.6%), and Medicine was the most frequent department (33.3%). On a Likert scale from 1 to 10, 60.0% of the respondents thought that research was 10/10 important for undergraduate students, with the mean value being 8.8. Rating their interest in taking part in research during undergraduate studies, 48.2% scored it 10/10, with the mean value being 8.57. 80.3% of respondents had attended a research module, course, or workshop; however, only 48.8% had participated in a research project and 72.0% of them had been involved in data collection. Inadequate knowledge about research processes and lack of mentors were the main barriers to research participation in 48.0 and 40.2% of respondents respectively. Establishment of a UR-Undergraduate research support center (77.2%), and involving students in ongoing UR projects (69.4%) were the most frequent suggestions to improve students’ research participation.ConclusionUndergraduate students at the CMHS in the UR have a large research interest, yet their involvement is currently low. Limited knowledge about research processes and shortage of mentors remains potent barriers to participation. Inviting undergraduate students to partake in ongoing projects and establishing a UR undergraduate research support center are recommended to strengthen undergraduate research experience at the UR-CMHS.
Highlights
Low and middle-income countries (LMICs) are still facing a large burden of diseases and high mortality rates; yet the majority of global health research stems from high-income countries [1, 2]
An introductory module about biomedical research is in place for all College of Medicine and Health Sciences (CMHS) undergraduate students, and is mostly covered in the second year, some programs have it in year one
*p-value < 0.05 aFor students who had previously participated in research. In this cross-sectional study, we found that research interest among undergraduate students in medical and health sciences in Rwanda is widespread, but research experience is still limited
Summary
Low and middle-income countries (LMICs) are still facing a large burden of diseases and high mortality rates; yet the majority of global health research stems from high-income countries [1, 2]. This is associated with inadequate health care systems and suboptimal quality of healthcare services in LMICs; indicating a need for contextual research to guide improvements in healthcare delivery to close the gap between research and health outcomes [3]. Involvement of students in research processes is an important step in professional development and can increase the academic output of the university. This study aimed to describe the level of research involvement amongst undergraduate students at the College of Medicine and Health Sciences (CMHS) at University of Rwanda (UR) and to assess factors associated with research involvement
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