CONTRIBUTION Student-Driven Approaches to Undergraduate Medical Research: A Peer-Led Symposium CLAUDINE YEE, BS; ANNIE M. WU, BA; CONNIE M. WU, BS; RACHEL V. THAKORE, BS; PAUL B. GREENBERG, MD ABSTRACT Exposure to research early in medical school facilitates the development of physician-scientists and competent clinicians. In the last decade, institutions have estab- lished programs and policies to address the physician- scientist shortage. However, student-led initiatives to promote medical student engagement in research remain unexplored. This paper presents the design and results of the third iteration of a symposium in which senior med- ical students provided guidance and advice to preclinical students interested in research. It also reviews the lessons learned from three years of conducting the symposium. KEYWORDS: undergraduate medical education, research, peer-assisted learning INTRODUCTION Medical school is a crucial entry point into academic medi- cine and research. 1-8 Since the identification of the physician- scientist shortage, 1,2 institutions have sought to increase student involvement in research through initiatives such as physician-scientist training programs and MD/PhD tracks, which offer consistent research opportunities throughout medical training and prepare students for dual roles in bio- medical research and clinical practice. 2-6 However, peer- assisted learning (PAL), which has been used across many facets of medical education including academic tutoring, 9,10 clinical exam skills, 10,11 and evidence-based clinical prac- tice, 12,13 has not been formally explored in the context of research despite recommendations to promote student-led research education. 14 The timing of student exposure to research is also critical: most students who participate in research begin their projects in the first two years of medical school. 8 Hence, it is important to provide mentorship and guidance for research early in preclinical education. Finally, student participation in research-related activities develops skills in written and oral communication, teamwork, and problem-solving, which are transferable to clinical practice regardless of future research involvement. 15,16 We sought to promote early research exposure at our insti- tution by evaluating the needs of preclinical (first- and sec- ond-year) students and establishing an annual student-led symposium featuring senior medical students who provided guidance and advice to students interested in research. 17 In this paper, we present the design and results of the third iter- ation of this symposium and review lessons learned from three years of conducting the symposium. METHODS With the support of experienced faculty advisors, we planned each symposium with four primary considerations: choosing topics, selecting fourth-year student panelists with research experience, structuring question and answer (Q/A) sessions, and incorporating post-course feedback. For the second and third symposia, we used a needs assessment – with attention to the perceived, expressed, and relative needs of students at our institution 18-20 – to define goals within each of the four areas. We surveyed all preclinical students with open-ended questions soliciting topics of interest, used feedback from the prior year’s post-symposium survey, and quantified the amount of prior research experience among students to facil- itate the selection of diverse student panelists. The needs assessment helped guide the evolution of the symposia. At the first symposium, the student panelists gave advice on pre-determined topics and answered ques- tions directly from the audience. 17 In response to feedback from attendees, the second symposium tailored topics to student preferences, incorporated live online question and answer (Q/A) sessions, and included a post-symposium sur- vey. The third symposium built on these improvements and incorporated three additional modifications based on survey results: (1) discussion of obstacles to successful research in addition to general advice; (2) selection of panelists based on student interests; and (3) post-symposium follow-up through additional peer contacts. The third symposium incorporated our lessons learned to date. We designed the symposium based on results from a survey of all preclinical students regarding past research experience, current research interests, and suggestions for potential symposium topics. We selected the four major top- ics of the symposium according to student preferences, with emphasis placed on the relative needs of students with little research experience. For each topic, we advised panelists to discuss overcoming any obstacles (“pitfalls”) they faced in addition to providing general advice (“pearls”). In contrast to previous symposia, we selected our peer panelists by sur- veying all fourth-year medical students about their research WWW.RIMED.ORG | RIMJ ARCHIVES | AUGUST WEBPAGE AUGUST 2016 RHODE ISLAND MEDICAL JOURNAL 31