Research Mentoring Research Articles

Evaluation of a mentorship matchmaking event at an academic research institution to reinforce the scientific workforce pathway for underrepresented minority groups

BackgroundMentorship and research experiences are crucial for STEMM career entry and advancement. However, systemic barriers have excluded people from historically underrepresented groups.MethodsIn 2021, a virtual “matchmaking event” was held to connect NIH-funded research mentors with historically underrepresented trainees and initiate mentored research experiences. Survey data collected over 12 months was analyzed to evaluate the program’s success considering the number of mentor-trainee connections, mentor-trainee research experience matches, and NIH diversity supplement application status. Statistical tests, including student’s t-test, ANCOVAs, and chi-square tests, evaluated differences between attendee groups and survey time points.ResultsOut of 314 mentors contacted and 99 registered trainees, 113 mentors and 92 trainees participated. Among mentors (n = 73), 53% identified as women, 56% as non-Hispanic white, and a majority (81%) reported being the first in their family to attend college. Among trainees (n = 79), about two-thirds (67%) identified as women, 47% identified as Hispanic/Latinx, and 15% identified as Black/African American. Both mentors and trainees were extremely satisfied with the overall event (57% and 69%, respectively) and would recommend it to others (74% and 90%, respectively). Most mentor participants established at least one mentor-trainee connection after the event (n = 64, 57%), a mentor-trainee research experience match (n = 40, 35%), and planned to submit an NIH diversity supplement (n = 31, 27%). Many trainees obtained paid positions through the mentor-trainee research experience. One year after the event, 11 trainees secured NIH diversity supplement funding with their mentors.ConclusionsThe matchmaking event began bridging a much-needed gap in the research pathway by creating opportunities for trainees to connect with mentors and obtain funded research opportunities.

Evaluating the implementation of online research training and mentorship among early-career family physicians in sub-Saharan Africa.

Research is needed to improve the performance of primary health care. In Africa, few family physicians conduct research, and therefore an online research training and mentorship programme was developed to build research capacity amongst novice and early career researchers. To evaluate the implementation of the AfriWon Research Collaborative (ARC) training and e-mentorship programme in sub-Saharan Africa. A 10-module online curriculum was supported by peer and faculty e-mentorship, to mentor participants in writing a research protocol. A convergent mixed methods study combined quantitative and qualitative data to evaluate nine implementation outcomes. Fifty-three participants (20 mentees, 19 peer mentors, and 14 faculty mentors), mostly male (70%), participated in the ARC online programme. The programme was seen as an acceptable and appropriate initiative. Mentees were mostly postgraduate students from African countries. Faculty mentors were mostly experienced researchers from outside of Africa. There were issues with team selection, orientation, communication, and role clarification. Only 35% of the mentees completed the programme. Alignment of mentoring in teams and engagement with the online learning materials was an issue. Costs were relatively modest and dependent on donor funds. Despite many challenges, the majority of participants supported the sustainability of the programme. The evaluation highlights the strengths and weaknesses of the ARC programme and e-mentoring. The ARC working group needed to ensure better organization and leadership of the teams. Going forward the programme should focus more on developing peer mentors and local supervisory capacity as well as the mentees.

Development and Implementation of a Minority Health International Infectious Diseases Research Training Program.

From 2014-2019, the University of Hawai'i (UH) at Manoa offered a National Institutes of Health funded Minority Health International Research Training (MHIRT) Program for undergraduate research experiences in infectious diseases. The goal of the program was to immerse undergraduate students in conducting global infectious diseases research to train a new generation of scientists to combat future global pandemics. The MHIRT program trained educationally underrepresented groups unique in Hawai'i: Native Hawai'ians and other Pacific Islanders, and underrepresented Asian Americans, e.g., Filipinos and Vietnamese. A 12-member Advisory Committee guided the program development, implementation, recruitment strategies, recruitment, retention, and program evaluation. The program provided an eight-month classroom and field based international research training. Students learned about "8 steps of research" and cultural competency, experienced a hands-on research project abroad, and presented their results to the research community in the host country and at UH. Students' research topics focused on ongoing projects of UH faculty including those with international collaborations in infectious disease and tropical medicine. Students spent two months on an international research mentor's project at an international site under the mentorship of a Hawai'i based research faculty. After eight months, students graduated from the program by presenting their research to family, friends, mentors, and UH faculty and administrators. Trainees in this program pursued academic graduate or professional health degrees. The majority of students pursued further studies related to infectious diseases contributing to workforce development in infectious disease health research. The UH-MHIRT program provides an example of student immersion in international infectious disease research to foster future interest in global health research providing potential benefits for the student and faculty and their research efforts.

Building the next generation of researchers: an “EPIC” student mentoring process

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to describe an intervention-based research mentoring opportunity for higher education students in health- and mental health-related disciplines.Design/methodology/approachThis paper includes a retrospective case study to demonstrate the application of a unique research mentoring method with a voluntary interdisciplinary team of undergraduate and graduate students on a project funded by the National Institutes of Health in the United States of America. The research mentoring experience is described through a pedagogical approach based directly on the focal intervention under study (e.g. GenerationPMTO).FindingsWe present the process of an intervention-based model of research mentoring as a unique opportunity to build student research skills and provide exposure to evidence-based interventions applicable to general health populations. Findings demonstrate the research team’s success in forming a collaborative research mentoring environment, performing key research tasks effectively and making reliable fidelity ratings.Practical implicationsThis paper provides novel insight into an isomorphic process using intervention-based research mentoring as a pedagogy to enhance students’ research skills and application.Originality/valueUnderstanding effective research mentoring approaches can influence the trajectory for future generations of mental health researchers and scholars who may not otherwise be exposed to research in their clinical training programs or courses of study. This paper provides insight and recommendations for how mentors can engage higher education students intentionally in research opportunities using intervention-based research mentoring.

Applying Front-end Analysis Insights in the Development of a Data Management Course for Biomedical Researchers

In this article, we describe how our design team used front-end analysis to identify the training needs, gather design precedents, conduct a learner analysis study, and apply the insights in designing a data management course for biomedical researchers. In-person and online versions of the course were developed and implemented with cohorts of a research training and mentorship program for biomedical researchers. The course development project adds to the emerging literature base of design precedents for instruction on research data management guided by the FAIR principles of findability, accessibility, interoperability, and reusability of research data.

Implementing a Responsible Conduct of Research Curriculum for an Undergraduate Summer Clinical Research Program in Quantitative Sciences.

Instilling the principles of ethical and responsible medical research is critical for educating the next generation of clinical researchers. We developed a responsible conduct of research (RCR) workshop and associated curriculum for undergraduate trainees in a quantitative clinical research program. Topics in this 7-module RCR workshop are relevant to undergraduate trainees in quantitative fields, many of whom are learning about these concepts for the first time. These topics include: (1) research collaboration and mentoring, (2) human subjects and privacy, (3) rigor, reproducibility, and responsibility in data analysis, (4) data safety, security, and sharing, (5) responsible authorship, peer reviews, and conflicts of interest, (6) research misconduct and whistleblowing, and (7) social responsibility and contemporary ethical issues. The workshop adopts an active learning approach and is intended to encourage peer-to-peer learning through a critical review of case studies and contemporary media reports. Workshop materials and discussions are designed to address experiences relevant to undergraduate trainees. For example, for the discussion on human subject protection, trainees are asked to review their own university's policies for engaging students as research subjects. Student perceived knowledge and understanding of research ethics were obtained from pre- and post-workshop surveys, with responses ranging from 1 (low level of understanding) to 5 (high level of understanding). Survey responses from 38 trainees across 4 years demonstrated marked increase in perceived knowledge and understanding of research ethics, from 64% in pre- to 96% in post-workshop responses with scores of 3 and up. Trainees noted the effectiveness of the active learning format of the workshop and relevance of the topics on their own research projects. Intentional instruction is vital to help trainees discern between good and bad science in research. The presented RCR curriculum can be adapted by other programs designed for trainees engaged in medical research and education.

Leveraging the Clinical Translational Science Award Network to Advance Family Medicine Research.

In this commentary, the authors present opportunities for the family medicine's strategic plan for research to build and expand research infrastructure by leveraging the federally funded Clinical and Translational Science and Clinical and Translational Research Awards programs. These include engaging patients and communities historically underrepresented in research throughout the research design, development, implementation, and dissemination process; building and expanding practice-based research networks; leveraging research resources, facilities, trainings, and mentorship opportunities; obtaining pilot funding; using informatics expertise to improve care quality; and embedding dissemination and implementation science expertise to promote the use of evidence-based interventions in real world clinical primary care settings.

Application of Youth-Led Participatory Action Research to Examining Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in Ontario: What Can We Learn?

Engaging adolescents and young people as partners in research is increasingly acknowledged as a vital strategy to ensure diverse voices are heard and to catalyze social change. This article, coauthored by adolescent and adult researchers, presents the methodological approach and outcomes of a youth-led participatory action research (YPAR) study in which three teams of youth researchers developed and implemented projects examining equity-related factors affecting adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights (ASRHR) in Ontario, Canada. Teams of four assigned-female youth researchers aged 16-19 years were recruited from three priority regions through purposive sampling. Selected youth completed a paid 5-day virtual YPAR training. Each youth team, supported by adult research mentors, identified key ASRHR issues in their region and developed a related research question. Each team then determined their study's design, obtained institutional ethics approval, and conducted data collection, analysis, and interpretation. Based on their findings, teams proposed potential solutions and communicated results to multiple stakeholders. Methodologically, the YPAR process amplified youth voices through a social justice-framed approach to examining ASRHR. Centering the perspectives, values, and experiences of youth positively impacted the youth researchers themselves, while yielding results that were relevant, meaningful, adolescent-responsive, and culturally informed. Results from the youth-led projects identified multiple barriers to accessing sexual and reproductive health services and products. Policy and practice implications encompassed concerns related to geographical accessibility, equity, service provider competence, and content of sexuality education curricula.

Qualitative Research Leaders: Evaluation of Pilot Global Pipeline Program.

Qualitative research methods are central to understanding many public health problems. However, capacity building for qualitative research is globally skewed toward high-income countries, with a significant skills deficit in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). To address this imbalance and provide a model program, we developed the Qualitative Research Leaders (QRL) program, a pipeline program to increase qualitative research capacity in LMIC institutions and foster leadership in qualitative research. The QRL program is a collaboration between Emory University and Vanderbilt University in the United States and two LMIC institutions Kilimanjaro Christian Medical College in Tanzania and the Public Health Foundation of India. The program had five phases conducted over 12 months: 1) mentored study design sessions, 2) an in-country skill-building workshop, 3) mentored proposal development sessions, 4) a residential grant writing program in the United States, and 5) mentor matching for field implementation. Program evaluation results showed that the QRL program was effectively designed, and scholars valued the program components, learning formats, and session content. The program increased scholars' knowledge, skills, and confidence as mentors in qualitative research. Furthermore, scholars demonstrated leadership in initiating postprogram research, mentoring, and teaching in qualitative research. Overall, scholars felt that the program could be extended to enable more time to internalize new knowledge and develop skills, and the role of in-country mentors could be expanded to further support scholars during fieldwork. In this article, we describe the components of the QRL program and its implementation, results of our program evaluation, and lessons learned for developing similar pipeline training programs.

Mentorship in medical research: Guiding the next generation

Mentorship in medical research: Guiding the next generation

The Impact of Traveling Fellowships: Perspectives From Rothman-Ranawat Travel Fellows.

Traveling fellowships, such as the Hip Society Rothman-Ranawat fellowship, offer orthopaedic surgeons the opportunity to enhance their skills, conduct research, and gain mentorship at top orthopaedic centers. This study aimed to assess the impact of the Hip Society Rothman-Ranawat traveling fellowship on an adult reconstruction surgeon's career. A non-incentivized online survey was distributed to the 40 past recipients of the Hip Society Rothman-Ranawat traveling fellowship spanning from 2013 to 2023. The survey comprised short-answer questions and multiple-choice questions to evaluate the impact of the traveling fellowship. Surgeon publication counts and h-indexes were extracted from the Scopus database before the fellowship and at intervals of 3 years, 5 years, and the present post fellowship. Quantitative metrics were adjusted based on the time elapsed since the surgeon completed the fellowship and compared using paired-sample t-tests. This study had a 95% response rate (n= 38). Following the completion of the fellowship, we observed an increase in publication count and h-index at various intervals compared to the time before the fellowship. The mean annual percentage increase in publication count was 25.6% at the 3-year mark, 37.6% at the 5-year mark, and 29.4% at the present time, all relative to the publication count before the fellowship. Similarly, the mean annual percentage increase in the h-index was 9.7% at the 3-year mark, 9.6% at the 5-year mark, and 4.1% at the present time, all compared to the h-index before the fellowship. Qualitative measures showed previous fellows endorsed that the fellowship positively changed their clinical practice (84% agreement), expanded their network (97% agreement), increased research productivity (82% agreement), and improved surgical technique (74% agreement). Responses from past Hip Society Rothman-Ranawat traveling fellows suggest that participating in the fellowship positively influenced their career trajectories.

Evaluating the Importance of Mentoring in Undergraduate Research Education Programs.

The National Institute of Health R25 Research Education Program was evaluated in the second year of implementation. Twelve mentors and 20 underrepresented minority students (URMs) scholars from partnerships and collaborations among five colleges and universities were added to the program to provide a more diverse research experience. Findings reveal that 100% of research mentors agree that the approachableness and accessibility of the program coordinator were beneficial in achieving mentorship goals and objectives. In addition, 85% of the students strongly agreed that the presentation of their research findings and the weekly reflection on goals, identification of accomplishments, and obstacles through the individual development plan were very effective. Of the 23 successfully tracked students for 2 years, six URMs (26.09%) obtained a bachelor's degree and were admitted into a graduate program; two were directly admitted to a PhD program in biomedical sciences.

The COOL e-Research and Researcher Development Experiences: A Mentor and Mentee Perspective

As information and communication technologies (ICTs) continue to advance, research projects and processes increasingly adopt ICTs, and terms like ‘e-research’ gain popularity. However, disparities in access to ICTs and users’ technology proficiency affect the adoption of e-research technologies. Despite these constraints, the COVID-19 pandemic forced many researchers (including postgraduate students), in diverse and unequal contexts, to take their research activities online. This paper reports on the ‘e-research’ experiences of the principal investigator, a research mentor and a researcher after the adoption of ICTs during the pandemic. This research took place in the context of the Cases on Open Learning (COOL) research project, commissioned by, and conducted jointly with, the Department of Higher Education (DHET) in South Africa. This was a multi-researcher (10 researchers located across the country, with varying degrees of research experience), multi-site qualitative social science research that took the form of 15 case studies, conducted across seven technical and vocational education and training colleges, six universities, two DHET sites, and a desktop study. The national lockdowns that were announced shortly after our first and only face-to-face project meeting forced us to conduct all aspects of the project entirely online. We used the Google suite for collaboration and Zoom for COOL team building, researcher knowledge and skills development sessions, and online interviews conducted by the researchers. WhatsApp played a dual role – supporting ongoing communication within the research group, and as a data collection tool. The paper highlights our experiences on what it meant to be part of a research team, as well as the opportunities and challenges of conducting research of this nature. It shed light on the COOL team building and researcher development strategies. Drawing on insights from our experiences, we recommend that higher education institutions (HEIs) develop both technical and human-oriented guidelines for conducting e-research. This paper could provide insights for independent researchers, postgraduate students, principal investigators, and supervisors considering a cohort-supervision model, comprising diverse students, who may be in dispersed geographical locations.

The Center for Health Outcomes in Medicine Scholarship and Service (HOMES): Fostering and Supporting Physician-Initiated Research

Abstract Problem The U.S. physician scholar workforce, currently comprising less than 1.5% of U.S. physicians, continues to decrease, threatening national status as a global biomedical research leader. Academic medical center (AMC) trends away from tenure-track physician faculty appointments toward clinical faculty appointments have contributed to this decrease, but AMCs have limited strategies to equip clinical faculty to conduct research. Infrastructure fostering clinical faculty research may establish new mechanisms for expanding physician scholar workforce and supporting academic goals of clinical faculty. This article presents one such model, the Center for Health Outcomes in Medicine Scholarship and Service (HOMES), from the Department of Internal Medicine, The Ohio State University College of Medicine. Approach Established in 2019, HOMES provides research infrastructure, support, and mentorship tailored to clinical faculty needs. Multidisciplinary core faculty support research across 5 cores: clinical networks, biostatistics and secondary data, qualitative methods, mixed methods, and research ethics. HOMES services include research consultation, mentorship, microgrants, a training toolkit, and symposia. Outcomes In 4 years, HOMES supported 50 faculty on 99 projects. Forty-five (90%) of these faculty have reported scholarly output, including 127 national presentations, authorship on 41 peer-reviewed articles, and 53 grant submissions. Forty HOMES-supported grant submissions have received funding, and 4 HOMES-supported physicians in training have pursued or plan to pursue AMC research careers. Next Steps HOMES has fostered scholarly productivity among AMC physicians, competitive grant applications, and research focus among physicians in training. As demand for HOMES services increases, HOMES will prioritize projects based on their innovation and research skill development potential. Academic medical centers can apply HOMES lessons through fostering clinical faculty collaboration with multidisciplinary research teams and increasing research training opportunities for residents and fellows. National expansion of funding opportunities dedicated to building biomedical research capacity and expertise among clinical faculty can facilitate sustainable scaling of HOMES-like models.

Finally, a Researcher Development and Education Skills Framework for an Open University

While there is an ongoing advocacy for transformative higher education through a collaborative research culture in a national university system (Almores, 2024; Cubillan, 2024), there lacks an explicit and unified framework for researcher development of valuable skills and competencies to inform its typology of research training, supervision and mentoring (Villanueva, 2024). We propose a researcher development and education framework to benefit open and distance elearning programs, or ODeL programs situated in the national university’s Open University constituent unit with a wide reach of students locally and in Southeast Asia (Alfonso, 2019). The framework is a by-product of our sustained intellectual and intertextual networking, engagements with an international network of researchers in doctoral education and consultations with teacher-researchers and other stakeholders in an open university. The framework is underpinned by the identity-trajectory theory, self-determination theory and the community of inquiry for learning community building in harnessing positive research student experiences (Villanueva & Eacersall, 2024). Key areas of the framework are namely, research as a personal and scholarly practice, a reflective practice, a collaborative practice and a technology-enabled practice. Surrounding these key areas are shared values of: (i) excellence, rigor and creativity; (ii) agency and wellbeing; (iii) sense of community, social responsibility and service to others; and, (iv) integrity, agency and future-ready. Further validation of the framework was conducted through focused group discussions across three faculties of study. Collaborative reflections among faculty members and research students were undertaken to further define specific research competencies as well as mindsets. A natural outcome was the conceptualization of three courses pilot-test the application of the framework in varied learning spaces for a range of learners within the Open University unit. MyPORTAL Course 1 is a formal course for graduate-level students crafting their personalized learning plans for selected research-related outputs while ASCEND Course 2 is non-formal short course for professional research staff and students to navigate their academic writing and research with the use of Generative AIs. WORKSPACE Course 3 is a self-paced micro-course as an opportunity for faculty members to spend dedicated sensemaking on current practices in mentoring and research supervision. These courses are meant to operationalize intentional learning alliance and community building to harness researcher identity development and sense of agency among research students in ODeL programs. Further research is recommended in launching these courses and towards the creation of graduate research support teams with researcher development specialists and volunteer research trainers and learning designers. The teams are meant to go beyond administerial functions to ensure exemplary pedagogy and practices, benefiting both research supervisors and their students. The study all the more highlights the Open University’s unique identity as a progressive driver of innovation and within a dominant residential-based university system’s seeking to translate the transformative education rhetoric into actual practice at the program and course levels. Finally, we lay our claim of an ODeL research culture that is truly open, collaborative and future-ready.

Measures to support students’ research activities and scientific mentoring in Russian universities

The present paper is devoted to the search for successful experience and analysis of the problems of supporting students’ research work (R&D) and scientific mentoring in Russian universities. The relevance of the topic is due to the need to evaluate approaches to stimulating not only research and development, but also the activities of scientific mentors in terms of the sustainability and effectiveness of the impact of existing support measures on student involvement in science andteachers’ motivation to mentoring activities. Since the interaction of students and scientific mentors, implemented in the unique organizational conditions of each particular university, and a typical all-Russian context, forms an ecosystem, the article focuses on considering measures to support research and scientific mentoring in interrelation. The purpose of the article is to consider measures to support research and scientific mentoring in Russian universities. The results of an empirical study conducted in 2024 using the methods of traditional analysis of documents (normative legal acts on measures to support research and development at the federal, regional and local levels) and a semi-structured interview with scientific mentors from among academic staff of universities (n = 30) are presented. Main results: generalization of measures to support research and development at three levels (federal, regional and local) of higher education management. It is shown that, at the federal level, they are worded extremely broadly, allowing the regions and universities to specify and refine them.The uneven distribution of support measures by region and their emphasis on financial incentives are revealed. It is concluded that each university has a limited number of documents regulating the support of research and mentoring. The contradictions in the attitude of the academic staff to the measures of support for research and scientific mentoring were disclosed. The prospects for the development of a research programme to support research and scientific mentoring in universities are considered.

Updated Research Publication Standards and Expectations for Successful Matching in Urology Residency Following Step 1 Scoring Changes

ObjectivesTo analyze the research productivity of 2024 urology residency applicants and its impact on match outcomes following the transition of the Step 1 exam to a Pass/Fail scoring system. MethodsWe conducted a retrospective review of PubMed-indexed publications for 98 applicants matched to the top 25 urology residency programs, as ranked by Doximity. Metrics such as the number of publications, citations, journal impact factors, and authorship rank were analyzed. Statistical comparisons of publication rates between top-ranked and lower-ranked programs were made using independent samples t-tests. ResultsThe average number of publications per applicant was 5.95, with those entering top-ranked programs exhibiting higher research outputs. Most publications were found in journals like "Urology" and "Urology Practice." A significant portion of the research was published in the final year of medical school, indicating a push for paper acceptances prior to the urology application deadline date. DiscussionThe increase in research output among applicants reflects the shifting weights of factors important for residency competitiveness following the Step 1 Pass/Fail scoring changes. Early engagement and mentorship in research have been shown to increase the research output of students. The findings of this study clarify the research expectations of matching successfully into a top urology program and can be used by both medical students and program directors in the current and upcoming cycles.

Evaluating the performance of a virtual platform ‘T-BOM’ for mentorship in tropical diseases research among early career scientists: Insights from a pilot in Nigeria and other resource-limited settings

BackgroundResearch mentorship plays a crucial role in advancing science. However, there are limited virtual platforms for cultivating mentorship among early career infectious diseases researchers in resource challenged settings. This study reports the findings from the utilization of a recently developed virtual mentorship platform, including its achievements, challenges and needs. MethodsWe developed a web-based application called Top-Bottom Open Mentorship (TBOM) freely accessible at www.tbommodel.com. The platform hosts mentors and allows mentees to send connection requests. In this paper, we present the utilization of this platform, including the opportunities and challenges encountered during the first year of implementation. Utilization data was generated monthly, while opportunities and challenges were captured using a users' perception survey. Data were analyzed in R software and summarized thematically as appropriate. ResultsBetween October 2022 and November 2023, the platform registered 81 users, comprising 63 mentees [54.3 % males, 75 % graduate students] from five countries [Nigeria, Cameroon, Brazil, Sudan, and Ghana], and 18 mentors [78 % males] from six countries [Nigeria, USA, Cameroon, Kenya, Brazil, and Tanzania]. Platform engagement increased from 19.4 % (7 users out of 36 who registered) to 51 % (41 users out of 81 who registered) over the year. Also, a total of 16 mentorship cycles were completed, with 9 currently running. Mentees reported having access to job opportunities, enhanced skills in writing, time management, and grant sourcing, and improved research prospects. However, challenges identified include time zone differences, limited number of mentors, mentee's readiness, and associated internet connection issues. InterpretationThe achievements of T-BOM over a period of one-year are challenged by intrinsic factors from both mentees and mentors, as well as erratic internet services in resource-limited settings. While the platform offers significant opportunities for improving research mentorship, these challenges need to be carefully addressed.

Beyond the Curriculum: A Study of Awareness Regarding Research Work and Its Importance among Medical and Allied Undergraduate Students.

Background: Participating in undergraduate research in research-focused countries enhances students' critical evaluation, innovation, and contribution skills. Medical research is essential for undergraduates as it develops their critical thinking and analytical skills for innovation and aids in their professional growth. Many Indian students might be unaware of research opportunities because of insufficient exposure and guidance within their academic programs and restricted access to research facilities and mentorship at their educational institutions. Hence, this study aimed to check the awareness of medical and allied undergraduate students regarding research work. Methodology: Four hundred twenty-six valid responses were collected through an online Google form using snowball sampling from various healthcare disciplines, such as medicine, dental, nursing, Ayurveda, and physiotherapy. Data was collected from all over Maharashtra. The questionnaire had two sections: the first was regarding sociodemographics, and the other was an awareness tool, prepared and scored. Statistical analysis was done using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) 22. Results: Most students (82.6%) supported making research a compulsory part of their education. Medical students showed greater interest (69.2%) than paramedical students (64.2%). Non-English-medium and government institute students had significantly higher awareness scores (p < 0.001). The type of course and a lower socioeconomic status were strong predictors of awareness (β = 16.809, -2.365, respectively; p < 0.001). Conclusion: Over 80% of medical students supported mandatory research in their curriculum. The specific course type and lower socioeconomic status were the best predictors of research awareness.

A Group Approach to Clinical Research Mentorship at a Veterans Affairs Medical Center

A Group Approach to Clinical Research Mentorship at a Veterans Affairs Medical Center