WRITING A SCIENTIFIC PAPER AS PART OF THE MEDICAL CURRICULUM

The curriculum at the Medical School, University of Tromso reserves 23 weeks for optional studies, including a period of 12 weeks at the end of the fifth year when the students carry out an independent study an d write a short thesis. Of the first 417 doctors (graduation year 1979 -89) from Tromso 84.6% answered a postal questionnaire asking them to evaluate this part of the curriculum. These postgraduates report high levels of satisfaction with and benefit from this part of the curricul um. A total of 26.8% started working on their thesis before the final 12-week period, 32.6% had also published their study, half of these in international journals, and 75.6% found that the skills acquired duri ng the final optional period had been useful in their subsequent work, irrespective of specialty. In conclusion, postgraduates consider thei r work in preparing a scientific paper as an important and integral pa rt of medical studies.