Author Information
Dr. Ana Marušić is professor of anatomy and Dr. Matko Marušić is professor of physiology and immunology, both at the Zagreb University School of Medicine, Zagreb, Croatia.
Correspondence and requests for reprints should be addressed to Dr. Ana Marušić, Zagreb University School of Medicine, šalata 3b, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia; e-mail: 〈marusica@mef.hr〉.
The authors acknowledge the critical efforts of their colleagues from the Zagreb University School of Medicine in creating and running the course described here: Dr. Jelka Petrak, Dr. Mladen Petrovečki, Dr. Danka Grčević, Dr. Ivan Krešimir Lukić, Dr. Nataša Kovačić, Dr. Aleksandra Mišak, Dr. Vedran Katavić, Dr. Kristina Fišter, Mr. Darko Hren, and Mr. Marko Kljaković-Gašpić.
Abstract
The authors describe the development and introduction of a course on scientific methodology and communication into the medical curriculum in a country outside of the mainstream scientific world. As editors of a general medical journal in Croatia, they learned that their colleagues had important and interesting data but no skills for presenting them in a scientific article. To alleviate the lack of education in research methodology and writing, the authors developed and introduced a mandatory course in scientific methodology and communication into the medical curriculum of the largest Croatian medical school. The course is structured into lectures, medium-sized-group discussions, and problem-solving small-group work, and is focused on (1) principles of scientific research; (2) access to medical literature and bibliographic databases; (3) study design and analysis and presentation of data; (4) assessing and writing a scientific article; and (5) responsible conduct of research. The course has been running since 1995-96 and is already showing results, visible in the more positive attitude of students toward scientific research and evidence-based medicine, and a significant number of students working on research projects and publishing scientific papers. The authors and colleagues also run continuing education courses for young academic physicians and an annual advanced workshop on scientific writing, involving academic physicians from all of southeastern Europe. The long-term goal is to create a critical mass of academic physicians with critical appraisal skills needed for evidence-based medicine and with skills for effectively communicating their research to the international scientific community.
In this article, we describe the goals, development, and introduction of a course on scientific methodology and communication into the curriculum of the largest medical school in Croatia, a country outside of the mainstream scientific world.
Fulll article: http://journals.lww.com/academicmedicine/fulltext/2003/12000/teaching_students_how_to_read_and_write_science__a.7.aspx
