Why should medical/dental/vet students get involved in research?
Getting involved in research is the best decision you will ever make, according to our students. Research helps us to see beyond the patient before us, to discover and innovate new ways of increasing health through better prevention, recognition and treatment of disease. Bristol has a long and rich history of important contributions to medical research. Many clinician scientists began to ask “why” as a student. Training in research will help you develop transferable skills, and learn how to produce research outputs (posters, presentations, papers etc.) that will boost your portfolio and CV. Developing research skills needs to be given ‘centre stage’ in medical and dental training, as highlighted by the Walport Report and the General Medical Council. Research also forms an integral part of specialist veterinary training and maintaining specialist veterinary status. At Bristol INSPIRE, our mission is to offer opportunities for research training to all students, regardless of their background and experience.
I am a 4th/5th Year Student, is it too late to get involved?
It is never too late to get involved in research. Some of the most successful clinician researchers became involved in research either in their later years of study at medical/dental/vet school, or during postgraduate clinical training.