Quality of undergraduate thesis on medical education in Peru: A cross-sectional study Abstract

Introduction: The low publication rate of medical education undergraduate theses in Peru limits the advancement and innovation in this area. It has been reported that the quality of research in medical education is associated with publication in scientific journals. It is, therefore, es-sential to identify and improve the quality of these academic products. Objective: To describe the quality of undergraduate theses focused on medical education in Peru using the Medical Education Research Study Quality Instrument and identify other factors that influence quality. Method: We conducted an analytical cross-sectional study taking as the unit of analysis the undergraduate theses focused on medical education located in the repository of Free Access to Scientific Information for Innovation of Peru. We evaluated quality using the MERSQI, other variables collected were: year of publication, type of university, thesis published, advisor’s experience, and subject matter. We performed a statistical analysis to identify differences between the MERSQI concerning the advisor’s experience, whether the thesis was published, and the type of university. Results: We analyzed 20 undergraduate theses focused on medical education. The average MERSQI was 9.13 ± 7.13. Most studies were cross-sectional in design and focused on medical students. The lowest-rated domain of the MERSQI was instrument validity. We found no significant differences in MERSQI scores according to the type of university, published thesis, and advisor experience. Conclusions: Our results identify a MERSQI below the international average. In addition, they suggest an ab-sence of advisors with experience in medical education. Interventions are needed to increase the quality of medical education research in Peru.