THE ROLE OF FORMATIVE RESEARCH AS A TOOL FOR ACHIEVING COMPETENCIES IN MEDICAL EDUCATION

Vela-Ruiz M. · Revista de la Facultad de Medicina Humana (2025) · DOI: 10.25176/rfmh.v25i4.8234

Resumen

The role of formative research as a tool for achieving competencies in medical education Formative research constitutes a fundamental pillar of contemporary medical education, as it enables the early integration of scientific thinking into the professional training of future physicians. In a healthcare context characterized by the rapid growth of biomedical knowledge and the need for evidence-based clinical decision-making, it is essential for students to develop research competencies from the earliest stages of their education. In the Peruvian context, a still limited implementation of evidence-based medicine (EBM) within the formal curriculum has been identified. A documentary analysis of 47 licensed medical schools revealed that only nine institutions included specific EBM courses, most of them offered in the fourth year of the curriculum. These courses, predominantly mandatory and delivered in a face-to-face format, addressed key content such as clinical question formulation, systematic searching, critical appraisal, biostatistics, and principles of epidemiology(1). Formative research is defined as a pedagogical strategy centered on learning through research, whose primary purpose is the acquisition of cognitive, methodological, and ethical competencies rather than the immediate production of new knowledge or technologies(2). Unlike traditional research, formative research emphasizes the educational process and a comprehensive understanding of the scientific method. This approach is explicitly reflected in courses such as "Research Methodology," "Health Research," or "Applied Research Workshop," where students develop protocols, narrative reviews, observational studies, and secondary analyses of databases as part of their academic training(2). However, its application in basic or clinical courses as part of the teaching-learning process is also essential for achieving competencies through information retrieval guided by the scientific method. Formative research promotes the development of critical thinking, evidence-based clinical practice, and informed decision-making in real healthcare settings. It also contributes to the ethical training of future physicians by fostering principles of scientific integrity, respect for research subjects, and social responsibility. In Peru, early participation of medical students in research seedbeds, student scientific societies, and institutional projects has been associated with greater academic productivity, better understanding of evidence-based medicine, and increased interest in clinical and epidemiological research(3-5). © Article published by the Revista de la Facultad de Medicina Humana of Universidad Ricardo Palma. It is an open access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International, CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which allows non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided that the original work is duly cited.

Instituciones: Universidad Ricardo Palma