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. 2023 Aug;20(4):e13598.
doi: 10.1111/tct.13598. Epub 2023 Jun 24.

Virtual medical research mentoring

Jeffrey Shi Kai Chan  1 , Dawnie Ho Hei Lau  1 , Emma King  1 , Leonardo Roever  1   2 , Tong Liu  1   3 , Yuki Ka Ling Shum  1 , Kenrick Ng  1   4 , Edward Christopher Dee  1   5 , Ana Ciobanu  1   6   7 , George Bazoukis  1   8 , Elham Mahmoudi  1   9 , Danish Iltaf Satti  1   10 , Kamalan Jeevaratnam  1   11 , Adrian Baranchuk  1   12 , Gary Tse  3   11   13   14 ; Cardiovascular Analytics Group
Affiliations

Virtual medical research mentoring

Jeffrey Shi Kai Chan et al. Clin Teach. 2023 Aug.

Abstract

Background: Medical research is important for professional advancement, and mentoring is a key means by which students and early-career doctors can engage in research. Contrasting international research collaborations, research mentoring programmes are often geographically limited. As the COVID-19 pandemic has led to increased use of online technology for classes and conferences, a virtual, international approach to medical research mentoring may be valuable.

Approach: We hereby describe our experience at the Cardiovascular Analytics Group, a virtual international medical research mentoring group established in 2015. We make use of virtual platforms in multi-level mentoring with peer mentoring and emphasise active participation, early leadership, an open culture, accessible research support and a distributed research workflow.

Evaluation: With 63 active members from 14 different countries, the Group has been successful in training medical students and early-career medical graduates in academic medicine. Our members have led over 100 peer-reviewed publications of original research and reviews since 2015, winning 13 research prizes during this time.

Implications: Our accessible-distributed model of virtual international medical research collaboration and multi-level mentoring is viable and efficient and caters to the needs of contemporary healthcare. Others should consider building similar models to improve medical research mentoring globally.

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References

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