A Systematic Review of Student Research at the Carle Illinois College of Medicine: Trends, Impact, and Innovation

Introduction: Research is increasingly emphasized in undergraduate medical education and often considered an indicator of academic engagement for residency applications and institutional reputation. The Carle Illinois College of Medicine (CIMED) offers an opportunity to evaluate research trends within an interdisciplinary training model. This study aimed to characterize publication patterns among CIMED students by examining medical specialties, article types, authorship distribution, and journal ranking. Methods: A search of the PubMed database was conducted on October 1, 2024, to identify publications authored by CIMED medical students. Inclusion criteria were based on institutional affiliation, graduation date, and verification of student status through publicly available sources. Of 1,423 records retrieved, 232 articles published between 2019 and 2024 met inclusion criteria. Articles were categorized by medical specialty/topic, article type, number of student authors, year of publication, and Scimago Journal Ranking (SJR) quartile. Descriptive statistics summarized trends, and chi-square tests with post-hoc residual analysis evaluated the associations between journal quartile and specialty or article type. Results: CIMED students published across a wide range of medical specialties, with neurological surgery (9.48%), dermatology (8.19%), and neurology (8.19%) most frequently represented. Observational studies were the most common article type (31.84%), followed by case reports (14.29%) and literature reviews (9.39%). Nearly half of all publications appeared in Q1 journals (47.41%). Significant associations were identified between journal and both medical specialty and article type. Most publications included only one CIMED student author (70.26%). Discussion: Specialty representation in CIMED student publications aligned with data from the National Residency Matching Program but contrasted with previous multinational data. The types of articles published, however, were consistent with the multinational data. Increasing publication volume over time corresponds with the emphasis on research in medical school. These findings provide a baseline for understanding evolving student research engagement and institutional opportunities for strengthening scholarly support.