Medical Science Educator Volume 19: No. 2s

It is a great pleasure to present this special issue of JIAMSE on the topic of Student Research projects. This issue looks at the value of the research that the two medical schools include in the medical curriculum toward an establishment of curiosity in the minds of medical students and future physicians. The abstracts indicate what the students are doing, while the articles provide a blueprint that medical schools around the world may choose to follow as curricula are revised. Enjoy.

Uldis N. Streips, Ph.D.
Editor-in-Chief, JIAMSE

ABSTRACT

In the undergraduate curriculum of Leiden Medical School, special attention is paid to the scientific training of all students. A four year transmodular program is offered which is fully integrated into the medical curriculum. The aspect of critical appraisal of scientific reports is a core element of the training, as well as development of several scientific skills needed for participation in research projects. The program aims to improve the skills of all students and to encourage those students with over-average academic ambitions to develop their skills further by voluntary courses and participation in high level medical research projects. The program is considered to be successful as a relatively high number of the Leiden medical students publish in scientific journals even before graduation.

ABSTRACT

Increasingly, medical educators are turning their attention and efforts toward enhancing the professionalism of medical students, starting with their first year of medical school [1]. Key to this endeavor is the development of educational structures and opportunities for ongoing reflection on practice. Scholars of how professionals in all fields think in practice, emphasize the continual cycles of reflection and action in which professionals engage as they hone their practice and improve the effectiveness with which they work with clients. Donald Shön, a leading figure in this field, speaks of reflection-on-action and reflection-in-action as hallmarks of professional habits of mind [2]. This article argues that structured research activities, woven into the medical school curriculum from the first year on, can foster the habits of mind associated with professionalism. Reflective practice can be seen to exist on a continuum with the more focused and rigorous systematic inquiry distinctive of research. Furthermore, this reflective practice is progressively entrenched and strengthened as students assume increasingly complex and autonomous roles in communities of inquiry, learning, and research [3, 4]. We present the research program at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine (CWRU SOM) University Program as a model for how such student research activity situated in authentic research communities can be made an integral component of the medical school curriculum. The medical student research component of the curriculum has only this year been fully implemented, but we have already observed that the structured research activities of this curriculum, in conjunction with other aspects of the curriculum (including the use of a problem-based learning approach and a portfolio process), are effective in cultivating reflective habits of mind and engaging students in authentic ways in communities of inquiry and research, thereby strengthening medical student professionalism.

Since the scientific community is rapidly internationalizing, students in the life sciences or medicine, need to be increasingly aware of the international character of their future careers. For this purpose the Student Board of the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) organizes biannually the Leiden International Medical Student Conference (LIMSC). Students from all over the world… Read more »

Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI) Versus Posterior Myocardial Infarction Gurbir Singh JosanKharkov National Medical University Introduction: It is known that patients with anterior MI usually have worse outcome and prognosis compared with those with inferior (posterior) MI. To evaluate the outcome and prognostic significance of patients with AMI depending on it’s location (anterior vs inferior), patient’s… Read more »

Quality of Life in Patients of Different Age Groups Six Months after Coronary Artery by-pass Surgery K. Bozovic, V. AndrijasevicUniversity of Pristina, Institute of Internal Medicine Introduction: Examination of the preoperative and postoperative quality of life relation to the patients’ (pts) age – group and determination weather the patient’s age could be predictor of the… Read more »

Pioglitazone Increases Amount of Epicardial Fat in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus L.J. Menting1, J.T. Jonker1, R.W. van der Meer1, van der, J.A. Romijn1, J.W.A. Smit1, A. Roos1, H.J. Lamb1, L.J. Rijzewijk2, M. Diamant2 1LUMC2VUMC Introduction: Diabetes mellitus is associated with an increased risk on cardiovascular disease and epicardial fat has been proposed as… Read more »

Prevalence and Age Distribution of Human Papillomavirus among Females in Region of Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina A. Nadarevic, J. Lisicic, A. Saric, M. Omerbasic, M. Brcic, T. Stjepic, J. Lucic University of Tuzla Introduction: A human papillomavirus (HPV) is a papillomavirus that induces hyperproliferative lesions in cutaneous and mucosal epithelia. So far more than 100… Read more »

Diagnostic Efficacy and Safety of Computed Tomography-Guided Transthoracic Needle Biopsy in Patients with Hematologic Malignancies M.H. Kallenberg, F.M. Marty, R.H. Rubin, R.R. Gill, F.L. Jacobson, F.E. Factor, J.M. Bryar Brigham and Women’s Hospital Introduction: The role of transthoracic needle biopsy (TTNB) in patients with hematologic malignancies, particularly discriminating between malignant and benign etiologies, has not… Read more »

The Influence of Trappin-2 on the Phagocytic Capacity of Macrophages A.F.Lipka Leiden University Introduction: Trappin-2 is an inhibitor of human neutrophil elastase with antimicrobial properties present in the lung. Previous research has shown a protective effect of trappin-2 in animal models of pulmonary infection, due to various mechanisms. This study aimed to investigate whether trappin-2… Read more »

Plasmid Profiling of Klebsiella Sp. and its Relation with Antibiotic Resistance at Two Hospitals of Urmia Z.S.M. Sabahi Mohammadi, M.M. Masumeh Mosavi, M.D. Omrani, N. Hosseini Jazidi Faculty of Medicine, Urima, Iran Introduction: Klebsiella Sp. is a group of gram negative rods and can cause different kinds of infections. Multi-drug resistant Klebsiella has been recognized… Read more »