Grupos científicos-académicos de estudiantes de Medicina de Latinoamérica y la publicación de Cartas al Editor

Undergraduate scientific research can start with publications by students. These can be in the form of Letters to the Editor, as they develop skills in scientific writing and encourage the future proposal of independent projects. The present study aims to determine the association between medical students' membership in extracurricular scientific-academic groups and the publication of Letters to the Editor. A cross-sectional study of secondary data analysis was carried out in medical students from 40 Latin American schools. The publication of Letters to the Editor was the outcome variable, defined as self-report when asked if they had published a letter as part of their non-academic activities. Simple and multiple regression analyses were performed using multilevel random effect models. Of the 11,587 respondents, 40.9% were affiliated with study groups and 1.6% reported having published a Letter to the Editor. In the simple regression, all three types of scientific-academic groups were associated (p < 0.001). In the multiple regression, the association was maintained only in students affiliated with scientific societies (prevalence ratio = 2.71) and study groups (prevalence ratio = 2.43). In conclusion, affiliation to a student scientific society, study groups and more than one scientific-academic group was associated with a higher frequency of publication of Letters to the Editor.