This presentation discusses (1) the importance of clinical research to medical students, (2) barriers towards student research, and (3) how to select a good mentor.

1. Clinical Research
For Medical Students
Ahmed Negida
Fifth year student (2016-2017)
Faculty of Medicine, Zagazig University, Egypt

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4. Austin Bradford Hill (1948 first RCTs, 1950s)

5. David Sacket (1970s)

7. Paul Glaseziou et al. BMJ 2008;337:a1253 doi:10.1136/bmj.a1253

8. Clinical Research
For Medical Students
Ahmed Negida
Fifth year student (2016-2017)
Faculty of Medicine, Zagazig University, Egypt

9. ILOs
• What is the importance of research for medical students?
• Barriers towards student research
• What is the difference between clinical research and lab research?
• What are the basic skills that a student should learn before starting?
• What are the recommended learning resources of research basics?
• How to start? (as an undergraduate student in Egypt)
• How to select a good research mentor? (Nature Guide)
• Other Q & A …?

10. [1]
Importance of
research

11. Importance of research for medical students
Research is the backbone of
progress of medicine

12. Importance of research for medical students
You will learn persistence and
many soft skills

13. Importance of research for medical students
Advance your knowledge

14. Importance of research for medical students
Build a strong CV
 Help you get scholarships and grants
 Help you get good MSc and PhD offers

15. Importance of research for medical students
Continue your career abroad

16. Importance of research for medical students
Connections with leading
scientists in the field

17. [2]
Problems towards
student research

18. In 2006, Mostafa et al. performed a cross sectional evaluation
in Faculty of Medicine, Alexandria University to investigate
students’ perceptions and attitudes towards research.

19. Students’ interest in research Students’ perception of research
70-80% of students are
interested in research
80-90% of students think that
research is important

20.  Curriculum overload - Lack of time (75.0%)
 Lack of training (71.6%)
 Lack of staff guidance and cooperation (39.1%)
 Lack of Interest and Motivation (22.5%)
 Lack of funding
 Lack of incentives (19.1%)
Main problems identified in Egypt

21. Lack of time
Solution:
Appropriate time management
starts by setting clear vision and
well defined goals.
* Follow your time
* Remodel your activities

22. Lack of mentors

23. Lack of Fund
SOLUTION:
1-There are a few available grants (you can
apply with your mentor as PI)
2- During publication, most journals offer
waivers to authors from MLICs.
3- Some universities may provide partial
fund. (eg. Mansoura university)

24. The gap btw our education and
recent advances in medicine
(Out-of-date knowledge)
SOLUTION:
1- Subscribe to newsletter of famous
journals in your area of interest
2- Read as much as you can
3- CME online

25. Dissociation between research
education and research practice

26. [3]
Types of Research

27. Primary research vs. Secondary research
Primary Research Secondary Research
• Original Data
• Information appear for the first
time
• Summary/ collation and/or
synthesis of existing research
• Use existing data from Primary
Sources

28. Primary Research

29. Secondary Research

30. Clinical Research Basic Science Research
Requires Patients + patient data
Deals with Patients
Test Tube Research
Requires Prepared Labs
Studies fundamental functions in biology
May involve: Animal Models, Tissue Culture
• Molecular Mechanisms
• Cell Cycle
• Receptors
• Genes
Has Clinical Relevance Usually has more weight
Generate More Knowledge
Does not have direct clinical relevance

31. Basic
Science
Research
T1
Clinical
Research
T2
Clinical Practice
Translational Research

32. [4]
Skills to Learn

33. Basic Skills (before you start)
SKILLSTEP
Creative thinking & Reading1. Research Idea
How to use databases2. Search Literature
Protocol writing
3. Formulate hypothesis
4. Plan for the study
5. Pilot study
Data collection tools (+/- clinical skills)
6. Implementation
7. Data collection
Medical statistics8. Data analysis
Scientific writing9. Reporting
Presentation & communication skills10. Presenting/Publishing

34. Research design
Epidemiology, Evidence Based
Medicine, and Public Health
Designing clinical research

35. 1. Medical statistics made easy
2. Medical statistics at a glance
3. Oxford Handbook of Medical statistics
4. Biostatistics (Basic concepts and methodology for health sciences)
 SPSS for starters
 Biostatistics in Public Health using Stata
Medical statistics

36. Scientific Writing
Publishing and presenting
clinical research
Scientific writing; easy when
you know how

37. Systematic review and Meta-analysis
Introduction to Meta-analysis
Cochrane Handbook
of SR and MA

38. [5]
How to start

39. Our inverted pyramid model
START

40. Advantages of our model
1. Rapid publications in a relatively shorter time
2. The start is more relevant to clinical practice
3. Students’ chance to work with faculty members increase over time

41. Where can you do lab research in Egypt?
• MERC (Mansoura experimental research center)
• NCI (National Cancer Institute)
• NRC (National Research Center
• Alexandria Medical Research Institute
• Zewail University

42. [6]
How to find a mentor

43. Finding a mentor in your institution

44. Finding a mentor in your institution

46. He always keeps in touch with ex-students,
postdocs and so on after they have moved
on. Even if he is not directly helping them,
he keeps himself aware of their activities
and at times informs them of things he
believes would be of interest or useful,
to them. He genuinely treats his
ex-students and postdocs as part of an
extended family .
A Mentor for Life! Mentor vs. Supervisor
A student with a career A student with a project

47. SENSITIVITY
• When things go wrong, it is important to find out why things
happened the way they did.
• There could be personal factors (sickness, relationship break-
ups) that contribute to unhappy decisions or results.
• Although I may not be able to provide the solution to personal
problems, I can provide a sympathetic ear as well as advice or
direction to support services.

48. Appreciating individual differences
• Understand and accept individual differences
• Personality of students in work might influence the way they
do experiments or think about problems, or write their reports.

49. RESPECT
• Treating students as their colleagues
• Building confidence into younger collaborators

50. • Honestly sharing his own ideas and discussing with his team
• Has NO intellectual jealousy
• Happy to see others succeed
• Push them forward
Unselfishness

51. Availability: the open door
Availability is the standout quality appreciated by the mentees. Despite
enormous workloads and responsibilities, the mentor was always there
and the door was always open.

52. Enthusiasm, Inspiration, and Optimism
• Very passionate to science
• Infectious enthusiasm
• Inspiring his students (to avoid burn out)

53. Balancing direction and self-direction
• How much guidance to give can be a challenge!
• There were many negative comments about those who have been seen to micromanage.
• Yet there was also criticism of those who let students run free and learn by their mistakes.

54. The initial project
• Select a guaranteed project at first
• Avoid losing interest

55. Celebration
• The importance of celebration and rewarding successes, large
and small, is often neglected.
• Yet it can be highly encouraging to individuals and can
contribute to the building of communities.
• The guiding principle is that celebration, however large or
small, is a powerful motivator.

56. Building communities
• A constant theme from the groups supporting their mentor was
the sense of community.
• The successful mentors realized the need to build communities
to create an environment where all under their care could
flourish. They all had deliberate and varied strategies to build
these communities.

57. Skill development – Capacity building
• It is clear that successful mentors
work hard at developing the scientific
skills of their charges.

58. • Constructive criticism
• Manuscript writing
• Oral presentations

59. Networking
Networking is one of the distinguishing
features of a mentor over someone
who is simply a good supervisor.
Good mentors saw it as their
responsibility to share their network.

61. Thank you