Overview
The field of medicine is wide and needs a deep & clear vision to pursue a particular aspect of a medical study. Medical school admission advisors highlight the significance of research in the medical field. Advisors told scientific research in recent decades was given less importance, which impacted many medical graduates’ careers.
Good example –A cross-section study was conducted at the Federal University of Southern Brazil to identify how many students were interested in research. A questionnaire was sent to find the results. About 278 medical students responded to the questionnaire and got 81.7% results in favor. Many students prefer to have scientific research in the first degree of graduation. Well, this is a positive signal for medical candidates possessing research as an interest in a medical study. However, it took time to accept the research as a part of the study culturally.
Let’s Know The Method of Study in Detail
The cross-section study was for Health Science students of the Federal University in Porto Alegre. The participation was based on a volunteer basis. Every student was explained about the research, and students registered after signing the form.
The questionnaire was containing three stages – practice, theory, and research. The collection of data was from May to September 2011 (academic months). The analysis used a specialized statistics program. The data was transformed into a table containing absolute frequencies & percentages. Variables were described by following mathematical calculations- mean & standard deviations or medians and interquartile ranges. Twenty-eight students from each course were selected for the calculation.
60.8 % of medical students say yes to continue research activities after completing graduation. 58.6% of students desire to pursue an academic career, whereas 10.4% had already gone for scientific publication. In conclusion, a large proportion of Federal University students want research activities during their training.
How Research Impacts Patient
Clinical research is gaining much attention and highly needed in the field of a medical study. With the help of research, new drugs & products are introduced for treating the disease. Thanks to Dr. Jane Salmon, discovered PROMISSE (Predictors of Pregnancy Outcome: Biomarkers in Antiphospholipid Syndrome and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus) to know how the research would impact pregnancy in lupus patients.
Case Study: PROMISSE Study for Pregnancy in Lupus
Lupus patients have a higher risk during pregnancy, such as- miscarriage, fetal growth restriction, protein in the urine, premature delivery, high blood pressure, and newborn death. Doctors were failing to treat such complications, and this shows the importance of research. The research was done to know why women’s complications with lupus occur and how to prevent it.
The study was first was monitored on mice. Mice treated with lupus antibodies having complications in the pregnancy and giving birth to pups small in size or couldn’t survive. Hence by giving lupus antibodies, the mice were protected from damages. The next step was an observational study (conducted for 11 years in the U.S. and Canada) where 80% of women whose lupus was generally inactive have negligible complications in their pregnancy. At the last step, clinical trials were on the women suffering from lupus and given a drug that protects the placenta. The approach was to identify the risk level of poor pregnancy results. This shows the essence of research in practicing medicine.