Assessing the Impact of a Comprehensive Integrated Research Module on Medical Student Publications and Research Engagement: A Retrospective Cohort Study in the United Arab Emirates

Background In the context of the current rapidly evolving and dynamic medical landscape, the integration of research into undergraduate medical education is crucial for addressing the global deficit of physician-scientists. At Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences (MBRU), Dubai Health, Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Doctor of Medicine (MD) curriculum incorporates a compulsory research module designed to equip students with essential research skills through a combination of theoretical instruction, hands-on practice, and mentor-guided learning. This study aims to evaluate the impact of a comprehensive research module on undergraduate medical students’ research productivity. It examines outcomes across the types of publications (original articles, reviews, and descriptive studies), their characteristics (authorship position, publication timing, and journal category), and their quality (journal indexing, impact factor, and citation metrics). Through this template of a bibliometric registry for compiling research publications, the study seeks to gain essential insights into the value of integrating research into the medical curriculum and its role in cultivating future clinician-scientists. Methods This retrospective cohort study analyzed the research output of medical students enrolled in the MD program at MBRU. When this study began on June 1, 2023, MBRU, being a newly established medical university had celebrated the graduation of its first two cohorts in June 2022 and June 2023. The first cohort began August 2016, and the second August 2017. The analysis included all student-authored publications up to December 31, 2023. This timeframe corresponds to a follow-up period of 7.5 years for Cohort 2022 and 6.5 years for Cohort 2023. A comprehensive retrieval of students’ publications was identified through the MBRU research registry, PubMed searches, and tracing graduates' ORCID IDs. Twenty-six variables were analyzed, encompassing data on graduation information, study design, authorship, journal indexing, ranking information, and citations. Descriptive statistics were applied to analyze quantitative data, while categorical data were summarized using frequencies and percentages. A p-value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results A total of 84 students with publications from January 01, 2017, to December 31, 2023, were included in the study. A total of 321 research projects were identified, and after removing duplicates, 169 unique publications were found. Among the students, 59 (70.2%) had at least one publication. For these students the median number of publications was 2.0 per student in both cohorts. Additionally, 21 students (25.0%) published their curricular dissertation as part of the research module course. An analysis of publishing identifiers showed that 133 (78.7%) articles had a PMID, while 104 (61.5%) articles had a PMCID. No significant differences were observed between the two cohorts. Furthermore, 34 students (57.6%) had an ORCID ID. Students contributed to a diverse range of study designs. The most common publication types were editorials, letters critiquing published articles in dedicated journals, commentaries, abstracts, or short communications that did not report new observations or data (n = 61, 36.1%). Cohort 2022 contributed significantly more to these publication types than Cohort 2023 (p = 0.0047). Descriptive epidemiological studies were also common, including 21 case reports (12.4%) and 27 cross-sectional studies (16.0%). Cohort 2023 had a significantly higher contribution to this type of publication (p = 0.0093). Case-control, cohort, experimental, systematic reviews and meta-analysis were less common in both cohorts. Regarding authorship positions, 72 (42.6%) of articles had a student as the first author and 54 (32.0%) included two or more students as authors. The total number of College of Medicine (CoM) publications involving students increased from 2017 to 2023, peaking in 2022 with 56 (28.6%) out of the 196 indexed, peer-reviewed articles. Overall, 120 (71.0%) of student-authored publications were published in Q1 or Q2 journals. Conclusion A comprehensive approach to monitoring student research contributions offers valuable insights into the effectiveness of integrating research into medical education. Early engagement of medical students in research as part of their undergraduate journey enhances their ability of implementing evidence-driven decision-making and supports their development into clinician-scientists who adhere to evidence-based medicine.