IMPACT ON NEUROSURGICAL RESEARCH PRODUCTIVITY
The pause on basic and translational science for medical students at our institution has resulted in a shift towards clinical research. In response, many postclerkship, third-year medical students currently conducting wet-lab research have had to modify their projects or adapt entirely new ones that can be completed remotely. Additionally, the curricular changes created uncertainty for first-year students surrounding neurosurgical research opportunities for the summer between first and second years. These restrictions might act to halt the momentum that students might otherwise be able to build early on in their academic careers. Alternatively, an increasing number of students might feel pressured to undertake a research year to make up for the lost opportunities during these times. If such is the case, a potentially disrupting rise in the number of residency applications may follow in next year's residency application cycle.
By contrast, there has been a surge of research questions and projects specifically related to COVID-19. As a natural consequence of the increased amount of COVID-19-related research, students wishing to propose non-COVID research projects are facing dramatically increased processing times by the Institutional Review Board (IRB). Hence, those without an existing IRB approval might feel more inclined to pursue projects that can proceed without such approval, such as meta-analyses and literature review.