Scholarly Medical Student Engagement in Public Health Research

Abstract

Introduction/Background: Medical students seek research opportunities to enrich their educational experiences and explore possible research careers. Because social factors have a significant impact on health, we created an innovative program engaging medical students in public health research.

Objective: Provide medical students with a three-year public health research experience.

Methods: During their first year, Indiana University School of Medicine (IUSM) students can apply for the Scholarly Concentration in Public Health (SCPH). If accepted, during the following 10-week summer, they take two 3-credit hour online courses and a 2- credit hour course, Fundamentals of Research and Scholarship; identify a faculty research mentor; identify a collaborative research project; and design and initiate the project’s protocol. The project can be original or part of the mentor’s ongoing research. Students are responsible for all research activities. The Scholarly Concentrations Program is longitudinal, so project activities continue during years 2-4. Required “products” are a manuscript submitted to a peer-reviewed journal and a poster abstract IUSM’s Education Day. Students on all nine IUSM campuses can participate.

Results: During the five class years 2022-26, 151 students (mean=30) applied to the SCPH; 121 (80%) were accepted (range=18-34/class). Among the 63 students in classes 2022-24, 60% completed the SCPH, submitting abstracts to IUSM’s Education Day and manuscripts to peer-reviewed journals, 58% of which were published. In post-program surveys, 90% would recommend the Scholarly Concentrations Program to fellow students, and 93% said it prepared them for research and leadership. Reasons for SCPH withdrawal included being accepted into other research programs, insufficient time to complete their project, and personal reasons.

Conclusions: We created a unique public health research program for medical students to enrich their educational experiences and learn about academic research and social barriers to health.