Brief Communication

Evaluation of student-led “Association for Support and

Propagation of Innovation, Research, and Education”
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(A.S.P.I.R.E) in empowering undergraduate medical students

in research: A 2-year longitudinal study
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INTRODUCTION motivation, perceived skills, and practices of the

students. Detailed timeline of administration of each
Association for Support and Propagation of Innovation, questionnaire and interventions conducted are summarized
Research and Education (A.S.P.I.R.E) was established as the in Supplementary Figure 1 and our previous report.[2] Data
undergraduate research wing of Seth G. S. Medical College was analyzed using JASP software, in which descriptive
and King Edward Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, in 2019.[1,2] statics, paired t‑test, and Wilcoxon’s signed rank were
Its aim was to promote and facilitate scientific innovation employed at a significance level of P < 0.05.
and research by providing peer mentorship and maximizing
research opportunities for undergraduate medical students. RESULTS
In the Indian context, the National Medical Commission
implemented the Competency Based Medical Education Responses of 92 participants were included (21 withdrew
(C.B.M.E) curriculum for undergraduate medical (M.B.B.S) consent and dropped out of the study). Over the course of
students of India in 2019, which proposed the concept the 1st year, there was a significant increase in knowledge
of “research electives.” However, it lacks provisions for score (12.8 ± 3.8 vs. 19.3 ± 4.8, P = 0.001) as well as
adequate training and capacity building of medical students significant increase in the knowledge score for each module
in research. Thus, academic research becomes a completely that was conducted. With regard to the post-session
extra‑curricular activity, implying that the students have to feedback, mean ratings for all the sessions were 5.7 ± 1.6 for
learn everything on their own, beyond their already hectic quality of content delivered and 6.3 ± 1.9 for interactions
schedule. The role of A.S.P.I.R.E was to provide a sustainable and doubt solving. There was also a significant change in
hands‑on learning environment, which can be a part of a the Research Attitudes (42.50 [interquartile range (IQR)
8.00] vs. 54.00 [IQR 12.25] P = 0.001), Research Motivation
medical students’ routine academic schedule. This study is a
Scores (29.00 [IQR 15.00] vs. 42.00 [IQR 18.00], P = 0.001)
self‑evaluation of A.S.P.I.R.E, its activities and the impact it
and Perceived Research Skills Score (36.00 [IQR 37.25] vs.
has been able to bring about since its inception.
67.00 [IQR 36.00] P = 0.001) In terms of research practices,
MATERIALS AND METHODS 44 research projects were initiated by 29/92 (31.5%)
Students’ in the study cohort over the course of 2 years.
A single arm, non-randomized, prospective, interventional Among these, each student was involved in a median of
study was undertaken for a period of 2 years from February 2 (IQR 2.25) projects and a maximum of 11 projects.
2021 to 2023. The study design was inspired from the Student’s self‑rated median extent of involvement in research
Kirkpatrick model of program evaluation.[3] M.B.B.S projects was more than 5 for literature search, deciding study
students of the first professional year, who were enrolled in design, ethical clearance, data collection, and manuscript
the institute in November 2020, were included as the study writing. However, their involvement was relatively less in
participants. A minimum sample size of 90 was calculated, steps such as sample size calculation, questionnaire designing,
However, considering non-participation of 20% and a and statistical analysis, indicated by a median score of 4 or
dropout rate of 50%, the entire class of 250 students was less. Interventions undertaken by A.S.P.I.R.E have been
invited to participate in this study.[4] summarized in Supplementary Table 2. Detailed results have
been depicted in Supplementary Table 3, Supplementary
Four validated questionnaires [Supplementary Table 1] Figures 2-4 and the qualitative feedback received has been
were used to assess the feedback, knowledge, attitudes, provided in the Supplementary Panel.
© 2024 Perspectives in Clinical Research | Published by Wolters Kluwer - Medknow 1
 Rao, et al.: 2‑year evaluation of A.S.P.I.R.E

DISCUSSION Shirish Rao, Yashika Yagade1, Amey Ambike1,

Aarya Desai1, Amey Kundawar2, Alhad Mulkalwar3,
Our 2‑year evaluation indicates that the program Munira Hirkani4, Raakhi Tripathi5
effectively enhanced participants’ knowledge, attitudes, Intern, Ex-secretary – A.S.P.I.R.E, 1Undergraduate Medical Student,
and skills related to research in the medical field, and thus, Ex-secretary – A.S.P.I.R.E, 2Medical Graduate, 3Medical Graduate,
empowered them to undertake research projects, effectively Founder Secretary – A.S.P.I.R.E, 4Associate Professor, Department
read scientific literature and practice evidence‑based of Physiology, 5Associate Professor, Department of Pharmacology
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and Therapeutics, Vice President – A.S.P.I.R.E, Seth G. S. Medical

medicine. Although previous studies on undergraduate College and King Edward Memorial Hospital, Mumbai - 400 012,
research mentorship have found similar results, many of Maharashtra, India
these interventions have been in the form of short courses
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and electives conducted either online or offline.[4‑6] Some Address for correspondence: Dr. Munira Hirkani,
Department of Physiology, Seth G. S. Medical College and K. E. M. Hospital,
of the already established student research councils in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
the country are operational in Kasturba Medical College, E‑mail: [email protected]
Mangalore and All India Institute of Medical Sciences, REFERENCES
New Delhi, India.[5] A.S.P.I.R.E stands out from the rest
1. Mulkalwar A. ASPIRE – A journey from intuition to innovation. Int
in having an exclusively peer‑based mentoring approach, J Med Stud 2022;10:101-3.
well‑defined student team structure, annual teaching 2. Mulkalwar A, Krishnani O, Rao S, Tripathi R. A.S.P.I.R.E: A student
module, and a variety of novel initiatives like the research led initiative to foster a facilitative environment for undergraduate
medical research. Perspect Clin Res 2022;13:65‑9.
database. Over the span of 4 years, over 8 medical colleges 3. Kirkpatrick DL. Evaluating Training Programs: The Four Levels. San
nationally and internationally have adopted the working Francisco: Berrett-Koehler; 1994.
model of ASPIRE.[2,6,7] 4. Rahman SM, Alam NN, Alam T. Developing Research Knowledge
Through Special Study Module: Notes from Year 2 Medical Students.
medRxiv 2021. Available from: https://www.medrxiv.org/content/1
Our evaluation, though comprehensive, has certain 0.1101/2021.01.12.21249687v1. [Last accessed on 2023 Sep 27].
limitations and biases in the form of absence of control 5. Unnikrishnan B, Rekha T, Jain A, Mithra P, Kumar N, Holla R.
group, selection, social desirability, hawthorn, and Integrating research into undergraduate medical education curriculum:
A 20‑year experience from a medical school in Coastal South India.
pygmalion bias. Furthermore, the study was conducted Indian J Community Med 2022;47:479‑82.
in a single‑institutional setting, which may limit the 6. Maroo B. Satyanveshi: A New Age Mentorship Program in
generalizability of the findings to other contexts or Medical School. ICIGS; 2022. Available from: https://jogs.one/
icigs_1000_15. [Last accessed on 2023 Sep 27].
institutions, even though multiple institutions have already
7. Bard JT, Yeluru H, Karpov MV, Mu D. Evaluating the impact of a
adapted our working model. medical school student‑run research organization on scholarly activity.
Cureus 2023;15:e43067.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to express their gratitude toward
This is an open access journal, and articles are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons
Dr. Ojas Krishnani, Dr. Sharvil Gandhi, Ira Sethi and Ansh Attribution‑NonCommercial‑ShareAlike 4.0 License, which allows others to remix, tweak, and
Agrawal for their assistance in planning and execution build upon the work non‑commercially, as long as appropriate credit is given and the new creations
are licensed under the identical terms.
of activities. We also thank Dr. Vinita Puri, Dr. Urmilla
Thatte, Dr. Yashashree Shetty, Dr. Amit Bhondve and
Access this article online
Dr. Millind Tullu, Dr. Sangeeta Rawat (Dean), Dr. Hemant
Quick Response Code:
Deshmukh (Ex‑Dean) and Dr. Avinash Supe (Ex‑Dean) for Website:
their constant guidance and support. Most importantly, the www.picronline.org

authors are grateful to all the students of the working team

as well as the participating students for creating a culture DOI:
of peer‑based researching teaching‑learning via A.S.P.I.R.E. 10.4103/picr.picr_25_24

Financial support and sponsorship

The study and its interventions were funded by Seth GSMC How to cite this article: Rao S, Yagade Y, Ambike A, Desai A, Kundawar A,
Mulkalwar A, et al. Evaluation of student-led “Association for Support and
Gymkhana, Seth GSMC and KEMH Mumbai. Propagation of Innovation, Research, and Education” (A.S.P.I.R.E) in
empowering undergraduate medical students in research: A 2-year
Conflicts of interest longitudinal study. Perspect Clin Res 0;0:0.

Investigators of this study have held and/or still hold Received: 28‑01‑24, Revised: 08-02-24, Accepted: 13‑02‑24,
Published: 19-07-24.
leadership positions at ASPIRE.

2 Perspectives in Clinical Research | Volume XX | Issue XX | Month 2024

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Supplementary Figure 1: Time of participant recruitment and questionnaire administration during the project

a b

c
Supplementary Figure 2: (a) Change in research attitudes. (b) Change in research motivation. (c) Change in perceived research skills. IQR:
Interquartile range
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Supplementary Figure 4: Number of research projects undertaken

and students involved in them
Supplementary Figure 3: Extent of involvement of students in the
projects undertaken by them. (n = 29, rated on a 7‑point Likert scale)
 Supplementary Panel: Qualitative feedbacks from students
and professors
“A.S.P.I.R.E. helped to clear my misconception that research is not only
about a novel idea but it is a very structured setup with a systematic
and methodological approach. A.S.P.I.R.E. has made me inculcate the
habit of research‑oriented problem solving”
1st Year MBBS student
“A.S.P.I.R.E., in a very short time, has been able to set a trend and
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help people widen their academic horizons. It has brought forth the
opportunities and guidance that I did not know already existed around
me and that itself has brought about all the difference in the way I now
look at research as a whole”
1st Year MBBS Student
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“A.S.P.I.R.E. has brought about a transformation in perception of doing

research ‑ from students lurking around in corridors and asking us to
teach and include them in research (by doing data collection‑ since that
is what an undergrad was considered capable of doing) to designing
and exploring their own ideas. Couldn’t be happier to have such a
healthy environment to discuss and learn!”
Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics
“Medical research in undergraduate days is important as that’s the
time you are being molded. A.S.P.I.R.E. is a brilliant model for the
same: for the students, of the students, by the students. That’s how it
should be!”
Former Professor and Head, Department of Clinical Pharmacology
 Supplementary Table 1: Study tools and outcome variables
Tools Description Outcome variable assessed
Biomedical research knowledge test 30 items, MCQ type single best response, scoring range Change in biomedical research knowledge
0–30, 1 point for each correct answer over 1 year
Retro‑Prequestionnaire for attitudes, 45 items, double 7‑point Likert scale (Retro‑Pre), Change in research attitudes, motivation, and
motivation and skill development towards divided into three sections skill over 1 year
medical research Attitudes (17), scoring range 17–119
Motivations (14) scoring range 14–98
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Perceived skills (14) 14–98

Research practices and projects 33 items, divided into 3 sections Change in research practices
questionnaire Evidence‑based practices (5), yes/no Number of projects undertaken
Projects undertaken (13), yes/no, open ended Number of students involved in research
Extent of involvement (15), 7‑point Likert, scoring Number of presentations and publications
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range 0–105 At the end of 2 years

Post-session feedback questionnaire 9 items, two sections Change in knowledge after each module and
Knowledge test (6), MCQ type single best response, general feedback on quality and interaction
scoring range 0–6, 1 point for each correct answer during the sessions
Feedback (3), 7‑point Likert and open ended
MCQ=Multiple Choice Question

Supplementary Table 2: Description of Interventions undertaken by Association for Support and Propagation of Innovation,
Research, and Education
Activity Description
Peer based research The sessions were conducted module wise by experienced senior students and were made as interactive as possible
methodology teaching focusing more on the practical aspects and common challenges faced by the young researchers
Motivational talks: My A series of talks given by undergraduate students as well as doctors who have excelled in the field of research and
aspiring journey Innovation. Theirs experiences acted as guiding path for the undergraduates and would ignite their dormant potential
Journal club Through the journal club, we aimed to promote regular reading of latest scientific literature and build a habit of
practicing evidence‑based medicine. There were bi‑monthly journal club meetings where the students would present
research papers. Each meeting would have atleast one faculty member to guide the students. A Preclub teaching
session was held to teach students the basics of the study design and biostats used in the journal article and at the
end of each meeting there would also be a short session where students could discuss any other doubts regarding
research in general
Research opportunities data A compilation of the researches currently in progress and vacancies therein for undergraduate students was
base maintained so that they could be a part of the research projects in their subjects of interests. This was a unique
initiative wherein the projects under senior professors were maintained in a master database. This dashboard
included the number of projects, type of study, requirements of the principal investigator from a particular student,
and duration of the project. Based on the vacancies available in various departments, students were facilitated to
apply and be a part of these projects via ASPIRE
Online research community A research community has been formed on the “WhatsApp” which allows to create different channels for discussion
on Whatsapp and announcements. This platform served as a one stop center for students to get regularly research updates,
workshop announcements, find study material, resolve doubts and get guidance from the mentors, and peer’s
researchers. The “Research Opportunities” channel served as the gateway to apply for various research projects
available on the ASPIRE research opportunities database
Instagram page, Google These acted as passive modes to motivate and educate young undergraduate students. Informative postcovering
drive and YouTube channel each of the teaching modules was posted on the Instagram page. In depth research methodology and biostatistics
resources were compiled in the ASPIRE Google drive. The recording of all workshops, talks, and journal clubs would
be available on the YouTube Channel. Students could easily access these resources by just clicking their respective
links
ASPIRE=Association for Support and Propagation of Innovation, Research, and Education
 Supplementary Table 3: Change in knowledge scores of students over the course of 1 year
Module number Topics for modules Timeline Pretest (mean±SD Posttest (mean±SD P
scores out of 12) scores out of 12)
Module 1 Orientation to research‑ the what, why, and how March–April 6.21±2.20 9.32±3.55 0.001
Literature research
Formulating a research question
Module 2 Study designs May–June 5.32±1.5 10.55±2.56 0.001
Questionnaire designing
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Protocol writing
Process of IEC submission
Module 3 Narrative reviews July 7.66±2.22 10.26±1.79 0.001
Case reports
Short communications
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Module 4 Sampling methods and data collection strategies August–September 2.67±0.57 8.24±1.59 0.001
Hand‑on biostatistics
Module 5 Original article writing October–November 6.78±2.55 8.89±0.56 0.001
Publication
Overall Biomedical research knowledge February 2021–January 12.81±3.88 19.34±4.87 0.001
2022
SD=Standard deviation, IEC=Institutional ethics committee