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After Four Years of Scholarly Research, Students Presented their Findings at Annual Symposium
A key differentiator for medical students at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix is their completion of a Scholarly Project — a publishable, hypothesis-driven, data-supported research endeavor that spans their entire four years of study.
As one of only a few medical schools to require its students to undertake such a project, the College of Medicine – Phoenix equips students with the skills to understand and incorporate medical research throughout their careers as physicians.
Having experience in research creates providers who not only achieve better patient outcomes and administer better care, but also are better equipped to critically analyze emerging literature in their field, ask the right questions and investigate data they encounter.
A study published in the journal Medical Science Educator in April 2022 reinforces those sentiments. Receiving feedback from 619 medical students across 290 institutions and 88 countries, respondents felt that research education was a vital component of their medical education, and its inclusion should be essential in curriculum.
J. Stephan Stapczynski, MD, director of Scholarly Projects at the college, offered insight into why it is so vital for the college’s students to have this experience. “Advances in medical science come from high quality research. We feel it is important that students understand how medical research is done, so they can best incorporate the findings into their clinical practice,” he said. “Doing research is one of the best ways to learn about it and is central to how our college prepares its graduates to be lifelong learners.”
On Thursday, March 7, medical students from the Class of 2024 presented their research at the Annual Scholarly Project Research Symposium. To shed light on the process, several future physicians shared what they learned from their research how they felt it will make them better physicians; and offered advice to incoming medical students on what to expect.
Scholarly Projects
About the College
Founded in 2007, the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix inspires and trains exemplary physicians, scientists and leaders to optimize health and health care in Arizona and beyond. By cultivating collaborative research locally and globally, the college accelerates discovery in a number of critical areas — including cancer, stroke, traumatic brain injury and cardiovascular disease. Championed as a student-centric campus, the college has graduated more than 800 physicians, all of whom received exceptional training from nine clinical partners and more than 2,700 diverse faculty members. As the anchor to the Phoenix Bioscience Core, which is projected to have an economic impact of $3.1 billion by 2025, the college prides itself on engaging with the community, fostering education, inclusion, access and advocacy.