title: Writing a scientific paper as part of the medical curriculum.
abstract: The curriculum at the Medical School, University of Tromsø reserves 23 weeks for optional studies, including a period of 12 weeks at the end of the fifth year when the students carry out an independent study and write a short thesis. Of the first 417 doctors (graduation year 1979-89) from Tromsø 84.6% answered a postal questionnaire asking them to evaluate this part of the curriculum. These postgraduates report high levels of satisfaction with and benefit from this part of the curriculum. A total of 26.8% started working on their thesis before the final 12-week period, 32.6% had also published their study, half of these in international journals, and 75.6% found that the skills acquired during the final optional period had been useful in their subsequent work, irrespective of specialty. In conclusion, postgraduates consider their work in preparing a scientific paper as an important and integral part of medical studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Tromsø School of Medicine, Norway.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tollan
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Magnus
mesh_terms: D003479:Curriculum; D004501:Education, Medical; D014956:Writing