• medical education & training
• statistics & research methods

With the current COVID-19 pandemic, our societies have witnessed an unprecedented generation and dissemination of information, including of scientific nature. With thousands of new studies published every day, it is a challenge for physicians to keep up with the evidence relevant for their practice. Such times call for physicians’ ability to critically appraise the medical literature for its soundness and relevance. In addition, it is of the uttermost importance that research published in extremely short periods of time maintains high-quality standards and is useful for physicians all around the globe. The solution for this pandemic crisis depends on research and development and our doctors have been trained to diagnose and treat. They lack research training—essential to build, interpret and effectively apply scientific evidence. Therefore, it is time to acknowledge the critical importance of research training as an early component of medical education, which, as many studies have shown, carries many advantages.

Research training skills allow critical assessment of medical literature, promote relevant clinical questions and the framing of its findings in a clinically meaningful way, ultimately resulting in improved knowledge translation into clinical practice.1 Doctors with appropriate research training can play a pivotal role in designing clinical trials and promoting patient-centred research.2 They are also more focused on teaching medical students, further contributing to the expansion of medical knowledge. The whole …