Justifying the need of developing research skills among medical students to strengthen the practice of evidence-based medicine

Abstract

Encouragement of research has been recognized as one of the most important reasons for the advancement in the field of medicine and the same stands true for the adoption of curricular innovations in the delivery of medical education. However, there have been significant concerns about the fact that many of the medical doctors are not participating in clinical research or basic research. An extensive search of all materials related to the topic was carried out in the PubMed search engine and a total of eight articles were selected based upon the suitability with the current review objectives. These are ominous signs for the field of medical education and research in medicine and call for an urgent need to expose medical students to the basic skills of performing research at an early stage in their training period. The idea is that students should be informed about the set of research skills which they should develop during their graduation period and the ways in which these research skills will help them in their academic career and professional practice. In conclusion, a medical student has to master multiple research skills during their undergraduation period to ensure effective patient care as well as enhance their contribution in the field of medical research. However, considering the already packed curriculum, it is a must that the research should be integrated within the curriculum in a longitudinal manner throughout the duration of medical training.