• David Boedeker, Lindsay Chatfield, Kayla Hudson, Caddie Motoni, Nikole Kerns, Monica Lutgendorf, and Katerina Shvartsman.
• Department of Gynecologic Surgery and Obstetrics, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, MD 20889, USA.
• Mil Med. 2022 Aug 29.

IntroductionOur goal was to develop a successful research collaboration program, Military Ob/Gyn HeadHunters, to connect military medical students with residents, fellows, and staff physicians across the Military Health System (MHS) to foster research collaboration and mentorship.Materials And MethodsWe conducted a needs assessment of medical students from the Uniformed Services University and Health Professions Scholarship Program as well as staff physicians, residents, and fellows practicing in the MHS to better understand the barriers to initiating and conducting research within the MHS. We used the survey results to create a secure online spreadsheet to match medical students to researchers recruiting student researchers. A follow-up survey was sent to all respondents 3 months after the program launch to evaluate the program.ResultsOf the medical students who completed the needs assessment, 82.56% (n = 71/86) reported barriers in participating in research. The most common barrier was "I don't know where to look for research opportunities." Of the staff surveyed, 88.24% (n = 15/17) indicated that they were interested in medical student involvement in their research. However, 53.33% (n = 8/15) of the surveyed staff reported that they did not know any students who would be good candidates. Since the launch in April 2021, our 3-month follow-up survey had a response rate of 40.00% (n = 6/15) for staff and 47.06% (n = 32/68) for students. Hundred percent (n = 6/6) of faculty advertising projects recruited at least one student to join their project. 85.71% (n = 12/14) of students actively seeking participation joined a research team.ConclusionsOur novel research collaboration program successfully connected military medical students with active researchers in the MHS. Leaders in medical education can consider adopting this framework to improve trainee participation in research.Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States 2022. This work is written by (a) US Government employee(s) and is in the public domain in the US.

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