Res Dev Med Educ.14 :33260.
doi: 10.34172/rdme.025.33260
Letter to Editor
Research education in medical education; Report of a workshop series and mentoring and research follow-up
Feraydoon Abdolmaleki Project administration, Supervision, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing, 1 
Mohammad Bagher Khadem Erfan Project administration, Writing – original draft, 1
Mohammad Jafar Rezaei Project administration, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing, 1, 2, *
Eghbal Zandkarimi Project administration, Writing – original draft, 2
Azra Allahveisi Writing – original draft, 1
Reza Hossein Zadeh Writing – original draft, 3, 1, 4
Roja Saber Writing – original draft, 3, 1, 4
Anis Fatehi Writing – original draft, 3, 1, 4
Bahar Moasses Ghafari Conceptualization, Data curation, Investigation, Project administration, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing, 1, *
Parsa Hasanabadi Conceptualization, Data curation, Investigation, Project administration, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing, 3, 1, 4, *
Author information:
1Faculty of Medicine, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran
2Education Development Center, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran
3Student Committee of Medical Education Development, Education Development Center, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran
4Student Research Committee, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran
Copyright and License Information
© 2025 The Author(s).
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, as long as the original authors and source are cited. No permission is required from the authors or the publishers.
Funding Statement
In this letter, we did not receive funds.
Dear Editor,
Nowadays, medical education has been experiencing rapid advancements that have led to numerous and enthusiastic changes.1 To facilitate these changes, it is essential to use updated references, do cutting-edge research, and conduct innovative practices in this field. Recognizing this, we designed a series of workshops aimed at empowering students to engage in medical education research, particularly focusing on writing strong, scientifically sound proposals.2
The first step involved conducting a training needs analysis among members of our official Telegram channel, highlighting the necessity for the familiarization and empowerment of students in medical education. In addition, a team of experts wrote and designed the needed curriculum for the event. After that, we did the notification and advertisement. In the end, 816 individuals from all over the country registered in this workshop series. Following ten sessions of workshops held from July 20, 2024, to August 7, 2024, integrated instructor-participant communication, a flipped classroom model, task-based education, and a student-centered educational approach. Among ten workshops, four sessions were instructed by associate or assistant professors, two by Ph.Ds., and four by expert and researcher medical students, facilitating the implementation of a peer-teaching approach.
Following each session, except session No. 10, which was experience transmission, a four-five-question quiz was held until one hour after the workshop (out of 10 points) was corrected and participants who had the criteria for inclusion in the mentoring groups were selected. The criteria for inclusion in mentoring groups included participation in a minimum of eight workshops and achieving a score of at least 70 out of 100 on quizzes.
Based on the number of participants who got the minimum needed score for inclusion and the capacity of the mentoring groups, nine mentoring groups consist of (1) an assistant/associate professor as manager, (2) an epidemiologist or a biostatistician as a statistical consultant, (3) a researcher student as a mentor, and (4) four individuals as mentees established. In these groups, several goals were pursued, including increasing communication and teamwork skills, facilitating peer teaching and peer support in research, conducting output-oriented courses, and familiarizing students with various roles in medical education research.
The proposals were subsequently submitted to the Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences for consideration by the Research Ethics Committees of the institution. The mentoring process will continue, with mentees conducting the designed cross-sectional research over three months under the supervision of the manager and group mentor.
In this letter, we outlined the critical steps and strategies that were adopted to ensure the success of this workshop series. We believe that initiatives like these not only prepare the next generation of medical educators and researchers but also contribute to the advancement of medical education as the core of advancing innovation and collaboration. Through peer support, active learning, and mentorship, we aim to empower students.
Competing Interests
The authors declare no conflict of interes
Ethical Approval
Not applicable.
References
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