Factors influencing clinical students' perceptions of an embedded research project and associated publication output

Abstract

In this article, we describe student perceptions of the value of a short, compulsory research project embedded in a clinical degree program, the research output in terms of publications, and the factors influencing this. It was hypothesized that student attitudes toward the project, student perceptions of how much the project contributed to their generic skills, and the number of publications submitted or prepared for submission would be associated with perceived quality of supervision, perceived difficulty of the project, career plans, and attitude before commencement of the project. We explored this using a questionnaire comprising 30 questions that included demographics, Likert scales, and categorical responses. Student attitudes toward research were found to be associated with student attitude before the start of the project, perceived difficulty of the project, perceived quality of supervision, and perceived relevance to the profession. Students thought that the research project contributed most to the skills of information gathering and critical evaluation and the least to teamwork, problem solving, and oral communication. Research output was significantly linked to perceived quality of supervision and the help students received with data analysis and data collection, though not with the project report itself. In conclusion, although the success of the research project was influenced by many factors, the perceived quality of supervision influenced all three outcome measures. Therefore it is clear that optimization of this aspect offers the most scope for enhancing the student learning experience.