Scientific output of Dutch medical students.
BACKGROUND
In medical curricula, considerable effort is put into scientific education and research training. The output of these efforts, however, is not known.


OBJECTIVE
To assess the number of students who published at least one scientific paper during the course of their medical studies.


METHODS
Names and initials of all students who received their medical degree in 2006 or 2007 in one of the six participating university medical centers in the Netherlands were searched in the Web of Science database using a well-validated algorithm.


RESULTS
Of the 2973 students, 14.5% had published at least one scientific paper during the last 3 years of their medical studies. These papers were of good quality, as the average number of citations per paper is above the average for papers published in their field.


CONCLUSIONS
Based on the results of our survey, we conclude that medical students in the Netherlands are productively involved in research during their studies. Due to publication delay, the true number of papers is likely to be higher than we counted, but the bibliometric index chosen gives a robust estimate of the effect on the output of the scientific climate of a medical school. Using such an index on a larger scale may stimulate medical faculties to recognize and cultivate academic talent among their students.
van Eyk
Huub J
HJ
Leiden University Medical Center, 2300 RC Leiden, the Netherlands.
Hooiveld
Michiel H W
MH
Van Leeuwen
Thed N
TN
Van der Wurff
Bert L J
BL
De Craen
Anton J M
AJ
Dekker
Friedo W
FW
D015706:Bibliometrics; D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000193:education*; D003479:Curriculum; D003625:Data Collection; D004526:Efficiency; D006801:Humans; D009426:Netherlands; D013337:Students, Medical