Breaking the Curse: Opening Students’ Eyes to Pathology and Oncology Research

Abstract

Research is a particularly underexplored professional activity for physicians, leaving many medical students compelled to pursue a clinical career. However, the XXI century requires that physicians innovate and perform research that fuels their practice; students should have early exposure to research to explore it as a career path. It should be encouraged in the undergraduate program by having students take part in case reports, short communication presentations, and research seminars. As part of an educational strategy, students worked with faculty members to deliver a gynecologic oncology pathology case report as a poster for the Oncology Conference of Medical Students. We used a quantitative approach with a descriptive and cross-sectional design to assess the effect of poster presentations on developing student’s research skills. The sample comprised 118 medical students enrolled in the Pathology courses that presented a total of 23 posters. The judges who assessed had a medical specialty in Pathology, Radio-oncology, and Gynecologic Oncology. The results show that students exceeded expectations on the use of language, as it was both formal and technical; and they used relevant bibliographic support and references. However, students performed less well in the clinical case summary. The judges found that although it was coherent and chronologically ordered, they did not include all the relevant laboratory tests and analyses, nor a full description of the diagnosis. This educational strategy has proven to be valuable in promoting Pathology and Oncology Research in students; it allowed participants to adopt a systematic approach and methodologies to document, analyze, and share knowledge.;