Viktoriya I. Dyakova

Introduction: Scientific studies and their publication have always been messengers for future advances in medicine, as the primary tool for technological and scholarly advances in the field. They are an integral part of the professional life of specialists working in a university. Creating your own scientific publication of any kind is often an undervalued activity whose procedural stages and significance remain insufficiently known. The path to the final publication can be a monotonous and extensive process. While the road to a final draft could be tortuous and monotonous, the pace and mood of walking it are heavily determined by the researcher’s motivation. Postgraduate scientific work in academia is an area less preferred to a clinical career, and not favorite for medical graduation students. The main goal of higher education is to prepare students for work, so the introduction to scientific thinking is an important factor for better results in the professional field. During their studies, students must learn how to properly work with scientific literature and create their own scientific work. Training students in the principles of creation and assessment of academic projects is an important factor for better science. Our aim is to explore the preparedness of medical students for scientific work. We can use this information to identifying strategies for the promotion of research skills among them. Materials and Methods: We gathered the opinions of 278 Bulgarian and English medical students in the second and fourth year of study, using a multiple-choice questionnaire, specifically designed and approbated to correspond to our research mission. Data was processed with the predictive analytics software IBM SPSS Statistics, v. 25. Results: Almost all students have had a certain level of previous experience with scientific work. They have mostly done presentations and essays; 94% of them have used scientific literature. The students generally exhibit consciousness of its importance and follow the requirement to properly cite used sources. The year of education is a factor in predicting a student‘s assessment of the level of importance. Even though 90% admit that it is important to learn how to create scientific work, only 76% are of the opinion that their own knowledge is lacking, and thus would potentially opt for a module on scientific writing. Discussion: Students' experience factored by their year of medical education and completed degree of previous studies is a factor that changes their opinions towards a greater understanding of the meaning of scientific work and the need for further training. Students agree that they need further training in research methodology to be able to develop valid and efficient skills to undertake scientific work.

Introduction: Scientific research is the primary tool for technological and scholarly advances in the medical field. They have emerged as defining features of the professional life of academic personnel. The occupation with scientific work of any kind is often, though, an undervalued activity whose procedural stages and significance remain insufficiently known. Therefore, postgraduate scientific work in academia is way less preferred to a clinical career. While the road to a final draft could be tortuous and monotonous, the pace and mood of walking it are heavily determined by the researcher's motivation. Thus, teaching medical students beneficial principles of scientific research is important for scientific progress as a whole. This is the root of our idea to explore medical students' attitudes to scientific work. Our goal is to use this information for identifying strategies for the promotion of research skills among them. Materials and Methods: We gathered the opinions of 172 Bulgarian and English students in the second and fourth year of study, with a multiple-choice questionnaire, specifically designed to correspond to our research mission. Data was processed with the predictive analytics software IBM SPSS Statistics, v. 19.0. Results: Almost all members of our sample have had a certain level of previous experience with scientific work. They exhibit consciousness of its importance and the requirement to cite sources. The variable 'year of study' turns out statistically significant in predicting a student's assessment of the importance level. Discussion: Greater experience with scientific work could provide students with greater understanding of its value. They need further training in research methodology to be able to develop efficient skills to undertake such a work.