Clinical Research for Medical Students

Most of us join medical school thinking that we will be great clinicians and save lives. The picture that comes to your head is that of a doctor vigorously administering CPR or a surgeon doing a complicated surgery. Although these dramatic thoughts give us the adrenaline rush, there are also a lot of other ways in which you can help and improve patient care. Clinical research is one of these things. Moreover, while you will rarely ever get a chance to perform a CPR or even wash up for surgery, as a medical student, you definitely can partake in clinical research.

What is clinical research?

Wikipedia introduces clinical research as:

Clinical research is a branch of healthcare science that determines the safety and effectiveness (efficacy) of medications, devices, diagnostic products and treatment regimens intended for human use. These may be used for prevention, treatment, diagnosis or for relieving symptoms of a disease. Clinical research is different from clinical practice. In clinical practice established treatments are followed, while in clinical research evidence is collected to establish a newer/improved treatment guideline.

Simply put, clinical research helps you to find answers to the most fundamental questions in medicine.

Why should I do clinical research?

Now, most of us will ask this question. Why should I get involved in clinical research when this is not a requirement during medical school? Why should I overburden myself with more stuff? I already must prepare for entrance test and pass exams! Well, below are a few reasons that may make you think differently.

 

CV/ Resume

The number 1 reason why most medical students think about doing research is to have something on their CV. Be it for your residency application abroad or a job interview, (published) research makes your CV stand out from the rest of the herd. Doing research shows that you are passionate about this subject and are willing to go that extra step even when it is not expected out of you.

 

Curiosity

This should ideally be the number 1 reason medical students get into research. Curiosity. A burning desire to know why something is the way it is. Medical research helps you find answers and challenge the most basic “facts” in medicine.

Prepping for the future

Doing research in your Undergraduate will help you gain experience and make you aware of the technicalities and the elaborate process which is involved in a research. This experience will make your path easier for the future research you will have to do compulsorily as a part of your postgraduate training in India.

Also, you never know what might interest you and research can become a part of your career, considering that India needs to start inculcating the value of research in its future generations of medical students.

 

Prestige

Having research papers in your name is something highly prestigious. We’re not saying any research, rather “quality” research that has meaningful use in patient care. When you research a particular field for long enough, you become one of the pioneers in the field. You become an authority on that topic because research makes you thorough with the subject.

 

An opportunity to present your research to the world

When you conduct research, you can apply to various conferences that are related to your topic of research. There are more and more conferences for medical students across the world. Yes! You can present your work both nationally as well as internationally. These conferences broaden your vision as a medical student. They give you the opportunity to interact with and be critiqued by colleagues from different backgrounds. Talk about networking and personal development!

 

Scholarships

There are several government and private scholarship opportunities available for medical students who conduct research. The government encourages research because when you do quality work, you become your country’s pride.

 

 

Are these reasons convincing enough? Are you considering giving it a shot? “But I have never done anything like this before? I don’t even know the R of research!”

Don’t worry! we have an entire article on how you can research as a medical student. Check out our article on How to do clinical research as a Medical Student for a step-by-step guide.

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This article has been written by Dr. Rohit Nathani who is an intern at Seth GS Medical College and KEM Hospital, Mumbai, India. He has been actively engaged in clinical research with publications as well as international presentations. You can ask him any questions related to clinical research in the comments section below.

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We would love to know your research stories or experiences about the conferences you have presented at. Head to our contribute page and stand a chance to get your post featured on our website!