The Interacted BSc Track at the Sultan Qaboos University: A Phase for Enhancing the Connection Between Research and Academia Among Undergraduate Medical Students

Abstract

Declining interest in research among medical undergraduate students is of concern. With the expanding mass of medical knowledge all students should be equipped to critically appraise up-to-date information. To address these challenges, an optional intercalated phase was introduced as part of the new medicine doctor (MD) curriculum at the Sultan Qaboos University (SQU). This study aimed to examine the motivating reasons of undergraduate medical students who opted to take the intercalated phase at the College of Medicine and Health Sciences, SQU. To this end, a standardized self-explanatory questionnaire was handed to all students at the first week of enrollment. Over a fiveyear study period, a total of 557 students were eligible to enter the clinical phase of the MD program. Among these students 18 decided to take the intercalated degree, and all agreed to participate in the current study. The mean age of the study cohort was 22 ±1.5 years and fifteen students (83%) were females. Almost half of students took the foundation program before joining the MD entry path, while 45% choose to integrate by their own interest, regardless of career ambitions. The top three most frequent reasons given were to acquire research skills, improve long-term career prospects and a chance to gain publications in journals. Collectively, these findings indicated that the intercalated degree appears to develop a “cluster” of medical undergraduate students who most likely become clinician-academicians capable of taking the scientific discovery from the bench side to the bedside for improving the patient care in Oman.