Investigating the evolution of undergraduate medical students’ perception and performance in relation to an innovative curriculum-based research module: A convergent mixed methods study launching the 8A-Model

BACKGROUND: Embedding into undergraduate medical programs experiential research curricula, based on holistic theories of education which emphasize participation in the social world, remains uncommon. The purpose of this study was to investigate the journey of undergraduate medical students in relation to an innovative compulsory curriculum-based research module, which has a prominent experiential learning component. METHODS: A convergent mixed methods study design was adapted to develop a systemic understanding of the experience of the undergraduate medical students throughout the respective research module. As such, the students’ perception of the experience was qualitatively explored using thematic analysis (n = 15). In parallel, the students’ performance data were quantitatively analyzed using multi-repeated ANOVA (n = 158). The findings from both types of analyses (i.e., qualitative and quantitative study components) were then mapped onto each using joint display analysis. FINDINGS: The exploration generated four themes that correspond to sequential steps that the students go through to effectively integrate the scientific research method. These themes include: 1- Attend-Acquire, 2- Accumulate-Assimilate, 3- Apply-Appreciate, and 4-Articulate-Affect. Quantitatively, two distinct clusters of mean Grade Point Average were revealed (p<0.01). Joint display analysis enabled integrating the qualitative and quantitative findings, generating the 8A-Model. CONCLUSION: The evidence-driven 8A-Model, generated by this study, highlights that medical students’ understanding of the true value of research seems to increase as they progress in the module. They begin expressing appreciation of the significance of the experience when they start implementing what they are learning as part of their own research studies. It is recommended for such a research module, with a firm experiential learning component, to be integral to undergraduate medical programs. This is expected to improve the future physicians’ research competences, and in turn add value in terms of quality of care and patient outcomes.