Improving Your Survey Response Rates

Photo: Hanna Fass
www.flickr.com/photos/hannahbonanza/4409843324

Author:
Andrew W. Phillips, MD, MEd
Emergency Medicine Resident
Stanford/Kaiser Emergency Medicine Residency
Editor-in-chief, AAEM-RSA Blog

This post was peer reviewed.
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You’re trying to improve your medical school classes, so what do you do? A survey!

You disliked an off-service rotation and wonder if your classmates had similar experiences. What do you do? A survey!

Surveys are ubiquitous now, and response rates to surveys of all types have been steadily decreasing across the US.[1] Why? Consider the last time you received a survey and immediately threw it away or deleted it, and you have your answer. 

Tips for Research

Author: Shane R. Sergent, DO

Research is fundamental to medicine. The future of medicine relies on scientific developments and, as such, clinical physicians should be at the forefront of such scientific progress. Research is defined by Merriam-Webster as an investigation or experimentation aimed at the discovery and interpretation of facts, revision of accepted theories or laws in the light of new facts, or practical application of such new or revised theories or laws. Although many of us feel that research is a term reserved for PhD students, it should be a critical part of all of our thought processes and delivery of patient care.

Rules of the Road: Ch. 19 Summary: "The Clinical Years - Research & Scholarly Projects"

Originally Published: AAEM's Rules of the Road for Medical Students, First Ed. Chief Editors: A. Antoine Kazzi, MD FAAEM MAAEM; Joel M. Schofer, MD RDMS FAAEM
Chapter Summary by: Faith Quenzer, Vice President, Medical Student Council 

      ●     Should you do research or other forms of scholarly projects in medical school?

             ○       Depends on your interests

             ○       Formal research and publication of a manuscript is highly regarded as the most valuable form of academic involvement and skill

            ○       Research projects can be presented at conferences