Table 1
Comparison of students completing intercalated research degrees with students withdrawing
|
Completed |
Withdrew |
P-value | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Number |
165 |
13 | |
|
Sex (% male) |
76.9% |
61.4% |
0.2b |
|
Mean age (years) |
19.7 |
20.0 |
0.5c |
|
MBChB entry route (% post-graduate) |
7.5% |
9.1% |
0.8b |
|
Peer-reviewed publicationa (%) |
41% |
33% |
0.6b |
|
Withdrawal from MBChB (%) |
3.6% |
40% |
0.05b |
MBChB Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery
aRefers to percentage of intercalating students who published any work (in an indexed journal) at any stage of their career up to June 2018
bChi-square test
cStudent’s unpaired t test
Table 2
Quotes from the survey respondents
|
Perceived barriers |
Project-related |
‘I stopped enjoying the practical requirements in my specific research’ Participant 1 |
|
‘Early dead-end on original project. The replacement project was nebulous and poorly defined’ Participant 2 | ||
|
Supervisor-related |
‘Supervisor was not equipped to supervise me at my level’ Participant 3 | |
|
‘More support. Often would go weeks without seeing supervisor or anyone else to answer questions’ Participant 4 | ||
|
Student-related |
‘My main reason for not completing the project was health’ Participant 4 | |
|
‘Both lack of preparation from myself as well as my supervisor’ Participant 5 | ||
|
Influence on career |
‘[It affected] negatively only in the sense that I currently am not doing research in a lab … So it showed me what I didn’t like’ Participant 1 | |
|
‘I think I am now less likely to pursue a research career based on my experiences. The research work in [specialty] reinforced my decision to train in the area’ Participant 2 | ||
|
‘I was influenced by my postgraduate years rather than by the program’ Participant 6 | ||
|
Advice |
‘Have a student mentor who has recently finished the program’ Participant 1 | |
|
‘Start ethics [application] in the summer previous or earlier even’ Participant 3 | ||
|
‘Wait until you have finished medical school before deciding whether you want to commit a few years to [PhD] research’ Participant 6 | ||