Need to integrate student research with the medical course curriculum in India

The integration of research component into undergraduate (UG) medical curriculum in India is still an issue that has not received much attention. Medical educators in the west have generally favoured this with most of the medical schools maintaining it as curriculum requirement. In India, the efforts in this direction are still in a stage of infancy. The arguments in support of making research as an essential component are based on the strong conviction that undertaking basic research helps the medical students to sharpen their analytical, creative, and critical thinking skills, which the practice of medicine demands. The concepts and tools clinicians use in their routine practice are believed to be the direct product of basic and applied scientific inquiry. This renewed emphasis on the medical students’ research is also aimed to fulfill the future research, especially translational medical research that needs more and more involvement of medical scientists. Moreover, exposure to research at UG level is expected to have good impact on the medical students to create interest in research and may serve as incentive for them to take up research as a career in future.