A Collaborative Research Mentorship Opportunity for Undergraduate and Graduate Medical Learners

OBJECTIVE: Developing research skills teaches medical learners to critically evaluate published research and apply findings to their own clinical work; however, structured mentorships with experienced researchers resulting in scholarly products are not routinely offered during medical training. METHOD: The authors implemented a structured research rotation which exposes learners to a broad range of research methodologies. Learners work with a research team to design and execute a focused project using an available dataset. The rotation culminates in the delivery of a presentation to a local scientific audience which may subsequently be developed into a manuscript submission or a presentation at a national professional meeting. The team collects anonymous post-rotation feedback and tracks numbers of learner presentations and publications to measure the impact of the rotation. RESULTS: Twenty-seven learners have participated in this rotation, resulting in the publication of five articles in peer-reviewed journals and three manuscripts under review, as well as 18 poster and podium presentations at national and international professional meetings. Among the 20 learners (74.0%) who provided feedback, 19 (95.0%) reported high levels of satisfaction. Eighteen (90.0%) learners reported they would recommend the rotation to other learners, and 17 (85.0%) indicated they would use the content during their professional career. CONCLUSIONS: This rotation offers a potential model for involving learners at different levels of training in productive research experiences and could be adapted to multiple medical specialties. This experience provides an opportunity for research skills to be incorporated into learners' training, potentially cultivating interest and motivating efforts to participate in future research.