Students and junior doctors increasingly contribute to textbooks. âThe Unofficial. Guide to Medicineâ project specifically harnesses this group as contributors and.
Professional development through participation in a medical student and junior doctor-led medical education project Ceen-Ming Tang, Katrina Mason, Shahab Shahid, Mark Rodrigues, Simon Maxwell, Zeshan Qureshi
BACKGROUND
RESULTS
Students and junior doctors increasingly contribute to textbooks. “The Unofficial Guide to Medicine” project specifically harnesses this group as contributors and leaders, with guidance from experts to ensure factual accuracy. This flipped publishing model has been highly successful, resulting in the publication of six titles, and over 21,000 copies sold.
Medical school does not adequately prepare students for academic writing Do you feel medical school has prepared you for academic writing?
Should medical schools place a greater emphasis on academic writing?
No
Yes
No
Results of a questionnaire to 152 medical students asking about preparedness for academic writing
Yes
Results of a questionnaire rating skills before and after contributing to a medical textbook
Participating in the Unofficial Guide to Medicine improves students’ abilities
Near-peer learning is effective, likely because of juniors relating well to their peers, contextualizing learning needs, and writing in a language understandable to them as recent learners. New research has also suggested that peer-led teaching can prepare physicians for their future role as educators. However, little is known about how prepared juniors are to teach in this manner, or the potential benefits for participants.
AIMS 1. Assess the self-reported ability of medical students in areas relating to textbook writing 2. Identify any perceived improvement in skills that came through participation in “The Unofficial Guide to Medicine” project
METHODS An electronic questionnaire was sent to medical students and textbook contributors. 152 medical students, and 39 textbook contributors completed the questionnaire. Skills were rated using a 5 point Likert scale. 1 Very Weak
2
3
4
5
CONCLUSIONS • Medical students feel that training in academic writing is underemphasized at medical school • Participating in “The Unofficial Guide to Medicine” project may help address this gap in skills • Medical schools should put greater emphasis on academic writing in undergraduate curriculums
Neutral
Very Strong
The authors would like to acknowledge and thank all contributors to the Unofficial Guide to Medicine project for making this possible.
