Research Elective Under CBME: A Teacher’s Perspective Reflections on Research Elective Under CBME

To the editor,

The National Medical Commission has introduced competency-based medical education (CBME) to upgrade medical education in India. ¹ Elective modules are an essential part of the CBME curriculum. Research elective included in CBME gives a window of opportunity for medical graduates to learn research. Research methodology teachings to medical graduates in India were happening through individual institutes’ efforts, and the training structure was not uniform. ² Having the Research elective under CBME is expected to give a form to the research training of medical graduates in India. The experience of a facilitator in conducting the research elective of medical graduates in a tertiary care teaching hospital in North India is described here, which may give insight to other medical institutes to make the research elective training more effective.

A premier medical university in North India had engaged various speciality departments in the development of elective modules for medical undergraduates and the research elective module was developed by the department of psychiatry. As per the institutional policy, during their research elective, 13 students were posted for four weeks in the Department of Psychiatry to learn the basics of research. The training was overseen by two faculty members who provided two-hour sessions five days a week for a total of 40 hours. The students were trained as a group and had an ice-breaking session on the first day with their mentors. The mentors gathered information about the student’s expectations for the elective posting and assessed their understanding of biomedical research basics. To ensure that the students achieved their learning expectations, the mentors set an agenda based on their feedback. During the first interaction with the students, the facilitator asked them about their learning goals for the four-week posting. The facilitator took note of their responses and discussed them with the students to create a realistic and relevant agenda for the group. The agenda aimed to provide an overview of conducting biomedical research, including the development of research protocols, consenting procedures, structured assessments, observing research in different departments, understanding and analysing data, conducting literature searches, and using software for reference management, plagiarism checking, and writing assistance. The components of the agenda were organised sequentially over the four-week program.

Outline of teaching program

1st week & 2nd week: Introduction to types of research, study designs, evaluating research gaps, developing a research question, generating hypothesis, selecting tools, writing a concept note, guidelines for different types of studies, tools/software for estimating sample size, plagiarism and its detection methods, referencing styles and software to manage references, paraphrasing tools, tools to check grammatical errors and language editing, types of research articles, reading and interpreting an article, suitability of articles for submission (selecting appropriate journal)

3rd week: Visiting various departments to observe the research activities (observing different types of research/experiments, consenting process, collecting data from patients), carrying out a brief research activity*

4th week: Introduction to research ethics, understanding data, basics of data analysis, the software involved in data analysis, comprehensive assessment.

*Students were asked to develop a research question and find suitable tools to carry out the research after designing a study (brief survey to measure a psychological domain).

During the four weeks of training, a variety of teaching and learning methods (lectures, seminars, group discussions, demonstrations, self-directed learning, problem-based learning) were employed. The knowledge domains were addressed by using lectures and seminars. The skill domains were addressed by demonstrations. In depth learning was facilitated by group discussion, problem-based learning and self-directed learning. On the first day, a temporary, closed group was created on the social media platform WhatsApp, consisting of both students and mentors. The students were provided with relevant materials, such as articles, free online resources, books, and tutorials, to facilitate self-directed learning about the basics of research. Additionally, a series of lectures were held to explain the research methodology. Group discussions, case-based discussions, seminars, and interactive group activities were conducted to demonstrate the use of various software for checking plagiarism, paraphrasing, referencing, and grammatical and language editing.

Challenges encountered: The facilitators encountered several challenges, primarily due to the absence of an Indian model for engaging students in long research-focused training. This was the first time that medical graduates under the CBME curriculum were undergoing such training. Two faculties were involved in the four-week training, and they had to prepare according to the set agenda for the training.

Feedback from the students: Throughout the four-week training program, students provided feedback through both in-person conversations and a WhatsApp group. The attendance percentage of the students ranged between 80% and 100%. At the end of the program, students were asked to rate their learning experience on a scale of 0–10, with 0 indicating the worst experience and 10 indicating the best. The majority of students rated their experience between 8 and 9, with five students rating it 9 and four students each rating it 8.5 or 8. Students reported that the training extensively covered research, gave them the confidence to pursue it, broadened their understanding of it, and taught them about various research tools, software, and data analysis plans. However, they also identified some negative aspects, including a late introduction of the research module during their MBBS course, insufficient activity sessions, lengthy lectures, and limited opportunities to conduct research themselves.

Medical graduates who want to gain research experience should consider applying for research elective postings, although they may face challenges balancing patient care, clinical rotations, and research tasks. Effective time management is crucial, particularly when working with tight deadlines and limited resources. Having a good mentor is also important for successful research, but finding one can be difficult in a research-oriented environment with few available mentors. ³ Despite these obstacles, research electives offer medical graduates an excellent opportunity to develop research skills through a mix of theoretical and practical teaching techniques, including need analysis and various teaching-learning approaches. Engaging students through group projects and interactive opportunities can enhance the effectiveness of research learning. With persistence, adaptability, and motivation to learn, students can acquire the skills and knowledge necessary to conduct research effectively.