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As of September 2013, first-year medical students at Dalhousie Medical School will begin learning the ropes of research from the outset of their training. The Class of 2017 will be the first to complete the new Research in Medicine Program, a longitudinal curriculum stream that embeds research experience in medical training from day one – and carries it across all four years of the undergraduate program.

“We have designed the Research in Medicine Program so that medical students begin thinking about what research questions they would like to explore in their very first semester,” says Dr. Marie Matte, associate dean of undergraduate medical education. “As they progress through their training, they will be required to define a research question and then develop, conduct and report on a study that attempts to answer it.”

Dalhousie Medical School is one of a select few North American medical schools to introduce a program that positions research as an integral curriculum stream. “We’re out of the starting gates ahead of most universities in North America on this,” notes Dr. Matte. “Medical students are always introduced to research and its importance, but they are not typically required to take their own project from start to finish. Research in Medicine is truly a cutting-edge program.”

When the new curriculum rolls out next fall, research will take its place alongside professional competencies and clinical skills as a core component of medical education at Dalhousie.

“Our goal in creating the Research in Medicine program is not for every physician to become a researcher, necessarily, but for every physician to be able to think like a researcher,” says Dr. Gerry Johnston, associate dean of research. “We want our medical students to develop critical thinking skills in real-world scenarios, so they learn to approach problems in ways that yield meaningful outcomes.”

As Dr. Johnston explains, the program aims to effect a cultural change so students learn to see research as a central and sustained activity, rather than a short-term add-on. Students will learn how to approach and conduct several different types of medical research – basic science, clinical research, clinical epidemiology, medical education and history of medicine – and work with faculty mentors to design and complete a project in one of these five areas. Ideally, graduates will be inspired to continue their involvement in research throughout their professional lives.

“It’s not enough for physicians to be consumers of new knowledge anymore,” Dr. Johnston says. “Physicians are ideally situated to be both creators of new knowledge and translators of new knowledge into practice… we want to equip our medical graduates to be leaders in shaping the future of health care.”

The Research in Medicine Program has been in the works since early 2012, when Dean of Medicine Dr. Tom Marrie was inspired by accounts of similar programs recently launched at a small number of leading universities in the United States. Soon afterwards, Dr. Johnston and Jesslyn Kinney, program manager of clinical research and training, set out for the University of Pittsburgh to learn how the program functions there. Upon their return, they established a working group to develop the new curriculum stream, involving

Dr. Matte as well as senior associate dean, Dr. Preston Smith, communication skills program director Dr. Joan Evans and Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick researcher Dr. Frank McCarthy.

One of the most important steps along the way to developing Research in Medicine was to involve medical students and residents in discussions about how the program should work. “They expressed a great deal of enthusiasm for the program,” says Dr. Matte. “They felt the early experience with research would be an advantage in residency, where a research project is mandatory, as well as in professional practice.”

Dr. Richard Liu, a Dalhousie general surgery resident who is pursuing a Masters in community health and epidemiology through the Clinician Investigator Program, points out that a grounding in research enables clinicians to more astutely appraise the plethora of scientific literature. “Because of my involvement in research, I know how to assess the validity of a paper’s findings based on the scientific soundness of the methods employed,” notes Dr. Liu. “Often people go straight to the discussion, but now I know to review the methods before I decide if the discussion will be worth reading.”

Class of 2016 president Dr. Elias Fares is also convinced that adding Research in Medicine to the curriculum will help future physicians in their practice. He knows a lot about research, having completed a PhD in cardiac electrophysiology with Dalhousie Medical School’s Dr. Susan Howlett in 2012.  “I learned in graduate school how to approach a problem that has no answer,” he says. “That could often be the case with patients… there may not be an off-the-shelf response to their problem… but research instills observational and creative and critical thinking skills that can help you reach a solution, especially with a differential diagnosis.”

The working group members are now recruiting program directors for each of the five research areas. In turn, the program directors will be calling on their fellow faculty members to mentor medical students over the four years of their undergraduate training. “We will offer faculty development sessions to help our mentors build the skills they need to be effective mentors,” says Dr. Matte, adding that mentors do not have be located in Halifax. “Distance is no barrier, thanks to technology. We see mentoring students through a research project as an excellent way for faculty members all across the Maritimes to expand their involvement in research, and will be doing our utmost to match students’ research interests with those of our faculty members.”

The medical school also hopes to dramatically increase students’ access to funding to continue their research endeavours over the summer. “Our goal is to double the number of summer studentships available to 50 or even more,” notes Dr. Johnston. “This will enable that many more students to delve deeply into their research topic, so they can pursue more complex investigations.” Frequently named for the donor who establishes it, a summer studentship provides the student with a stipend of $5,000.

While the Research in Medicine Program does not require students to produce publishable results, Dr. Matte expects than many students will do so. “There’s no question in my mind that some of our medical students will come up with groundbreaking results over the course of the program,” she says. “And no doubt many of them will go on to become leading clinician scientists who make remarkable contributions to medicine.”