Twelve tips for using participatory action research in medical education research

Participatory action research (PAR) is a collaborative research approach that engages community members as equal partners to generate knowledge and drive meaningful change. Though common in healthcare, it remains relatively new in medical education. This paper uses a collaborative approach to synthesize a practical framework for using PAR among medical education researchers. The paper offers 12 practical tips covering critical steps: tip 1: Know the distinct boundaries between AR and PAR, Tip 2: Practice continuous positionality and reflexivity, Tip 3: Address ethical considerations, Tip 4: Build trusting relationships with community members before collecting data, Tip 5: Embed individual PAR projects within long-term partnerships, Tip 6: Identify the problem you can address with PAR, and co-create specific research questions, Tip 7: Take action to produce social change, Tip 8: Provide accessible research capacity building, Tip 9: Use different methodological approaches to collect data, Tip 10: Analyze collaboratively, reflect, and redefine the problem, Tip 11: Avoid using jargon in your research language, and Tip 12: Ensure participants are part of the dissemination process. PAR offers medical education researchers a rigorous approach to partnering with communities to address locally relevant challenges and translate research into meaningful action.