Access to research education remains uneven for medical students worldwide, limiting opportunities to develop essential skills and engage in research.
The International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations (IFMSA) addresses this gap through three Peer-Assisted Learning (PAL) research education workshops, guided by the Basic Research Competencies Framework (BRCF). This five-pillar structure shapes all educational content and is supported by a broader open educational ecosystem. This ecosystem includes openly licensed materials, manuals and agendas, compiled in centralized resource repositories, enabling National Member Organizations (NMOs) to replicate these workshops and activities independently.
In this session, attendees will explore how to assess, implement, and adapt open-access educational materials and frameworks in their institutions or networks, enabling them to expand access to research education, strengthen skill development, and drive collaborative learning worldwide
Attendees of this session will be able to:- By the end of this session, at least 80% of participants will apply the session’s methodologies to:.
- Explain the global inequities in access to research education and identify the core competencies needed to address them.
- Describe how PAL, open-access resources, and open licensing collectively create a sustainable, equitable research education ecosystem.
- Understand IFMSA’s specific efforts to strengthen research capacity building, advocacy, and research exchanges through its open educational practices, the BRCF, organizational structures, and tools such as strategic plans and baseline assessments.
- Assess strategies for implementing open-access educational frameworks within their own contexts, such as reusing openly licensed training materials, establishing shared resource repositories, or developing peer-led training models.
- Design research training initiatives that integrate open practices, ensuring scalability, inclusivity, and sustainability.
