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Medical Journal of Australia - 2025 - Stehlik - Mandatory research projects during medical specialist training in Australia595.09 kB
Published VersionCC BY V4.0, Open Access
Journal article
Mandatory research projects during medical specialist training in Australia and New Zealand: a survey of trainees' experiences and reports
Medical Journal of Australia, Vol.222(5), pp.231-239
2025
PMCID: PMC11910950
PMID: 40000918
Abstract
Objective: To determine how many specialist trainees are required to conduct research projects, how they conduct these studies, and their views on the value of these activities; to assess the design and reporting quality of their research reports.
Study design: Online, anonymous survey.
Setting, participants: Current and recent trainees (past five years) at Australian and New Zealand specialist colleges, recruited through eleven colleges and snowballing; survey was available 31 March –31 December 2021.
Main outcome measures: Whether trainees were required to conduct research as part of specialty training; how they conducted their projects; the skills mix of the project team and access to relevant expertise and supervision; trainee views on mandatory research during specialty training; research engagement after training. Respondents were invited to submit project reports for reporting and methodological quality evaluation.
Results: A total of 371 people commenced the survey; 361respondents provided answers about mandatory research projects during specialist training, including 311 (86%) who had been required to complete projects. Seventy-six of 177 people who had completed projects (43%) provided information about 92 project sand submitted 34 project reports for evaluation. Thirty- eight projects (41%) investigated questions developed by the trainees alone; in 48 cases (52%) trainees had planned their projects with little outside input; of the 69 study protocols developed (75%of projects), 60 were developed by the trainees. The medianproportion of time devoted to the research project exceeded50% for trainees in ten of twelve colleges. Respondents typicallyworked in non- collaborative teams, restricted to members oftheir own specialty, and additional expertise was limited tostatisticians, allied health professionals, and nurses. Eighty-seven of 174 participants who had completed projects (50%) felt that doing so was very or moderately important for their clinical careers; 36 of 67 respondents (54%) supported the requirement for scholarly projects during specialty training; 33 of 61respondents (54%) had participated in research after completing training, and 44 (72%) had considered doing so. Twenty-five of34 available reports had been published; in 27 assessable reports, methods and results reporting was generally poor, and the risk of bias moderate to high in all but three. Participants criticised using their own time for projects and their potentially low-quality results.
Conclusion: For trainees who undertake specialty training, the time commitment and poor-quality research associated with mandatory research projects were frequently concerns. Medical colleges should focus on research training tailored to individual career aspirations and training needs
Details
- Title
- Mandatory research projects during medical specialist training in Australia and New Zealand: a survey of trainees' experiences and reports
- Authors
- Paulina Stehlik (Corresponding Author) - Bond UniversityCaitlyn Withers - Gold Coast HospitalRachel C Bourke - Gold Coast HospitalAdrian G Barnett - Queensland University of TechnologyCaitlin Brandenburg - Gold Coast HospitalChristy Noble - The University of QueenslandAlexandra Bannach-Brown - Berlin Institute of Health at Charité - Universitätsmedizin BerlinGerben B Keijzers - Bond UniversityIan A Scott - The University of QueenslandPaul P Glasziou - Bond UniversityEmma C Veysey - St Vincent's Hospital MelbourneSharon Mickan - Bond UniversityMark Morgan - Bond UniversityHitesh Joshi - Prince Charles HospitalKirsty Forrest - Bond UniversityThomas G Campbell - Sunshine Coast University HospitalDavid A Henry - Bond University
- Publication details
- Medical Journal of Australia, Vol.222(5), pp.231-239
- Publisher
- John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
- Date published
- 2025
- DOI
- 10.5694/mja2.52611
- ISSN
- 1326-5377; 0025-729X
- PMID
- 40000918; PMC11910950
- Copyright note
- © 2025 The Author(s). Medical Journal of Australia published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of AMP Co Pty Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
- Grant note
- RGS2020-037 / Gold Coast Health
- Organisation Unit
- UniSC Clinical Trials Centre; USC Clinical Trials Centre - Legacy
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 991127098002621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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