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The Role of Research Incubators in Encouraging Research and Publication Among Medical Students

2014; Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; Volume: 89; Issue: 7 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1097/acm.0000000000000301

1938-808X

Jorge Enrique Machado‐Alba, Manuel Enrique Machado‐Duque,

Health Sciences Research and Education

To the Editor: Scientific knowledge advances through research and subsequent publication in indexed journals. However, the amount of research developed and published in Europe, North America, and Asia generally leaves the Latin American and African regions far behind. Institutions in these regions should organize research incubators to help students and trainees develop an early interest in and skill for conducting biomedical research with the goal of continuing this research throughout their careers. The vast majority of Latin American universities have specific curriculum requirements in biomedical research, but many medical students take this subject as just another class without giving it the emphasis necessary for developing a research career.1 In response, possible pathways have been proposed for improving biomedical research in Latin America, among them the formation of student scientific societies and the creation of research incubators around topics of interest to medical students. Research incubators, which are groups of young researchers convened around a specific topic of interest who share the support of the university and a research mentor, may enable students to start their career as researchers, combining the knowledge gained in the general curriculum of biomedical research principles with the processes of developing a research project. This involves development, analysis, writing, and eventually publication and requires continuous support from researchers and teachers who are interested in medical teaching models and who are involved in research themselves.2 Many Latin American universities are currently implementing training models to support student research. They have achieved some visibility thanks to the scientific projects developed in research incubators, and the researchers have published their work in journals that are indexed in regional and global databases.1 Latin American higher education institutions should implement educational practices in biomedical research that are of interest to medical students, and should offer those students active support both financially and academically, thus advancing projects that may favorably impact local and global populations as well as international scientific growth.2 Today's students will be tomorrow's professionals, and it is our responsibility to make sure they are able to lead the development of new policies that aim at increasing the volume of research and scientific publication. Only through increased training and research output can we reduce the large gaps that separate the developed countries of the world and the developing countries of Latin America. Jorge E. Machado-Alba, MD, MSc, PhD Professor of basic sciences, Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira, Pereira, Colombia; [email protected] Manuel E. Machado-Duque Final-year medical student, Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira, Pereira, Colombia.