Contributing to Evidence Synthesis as a First-Year Medical Student: My Experience with Cochrane Crowd

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5195/ijms.2026.4113

Keywords:

Systematic review, Cochrane Review, Cochrane crowd, Crowdsourcing, Randomized Controlled Trial, Volunteer, Experience, Evidence-based medicine, Evidence synthesis, Citizen scientist

Abstract

The following article describes my experience as a volunteer with Cochrane Crowd, which uses public support to identify Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) from records of published medical studies/protocols, which are then added to CENTRAL, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials. Identification and correct categorization of RCTs are essential steps for synthesizing evidence in the form of high-quality systematic reviews and meta-analyses of medical interventions. Thus, public volunteers play an important role here by directly aiding in the processes of evidence-based medicine. Medical students, in my opinion, are ideal volunteers for this task due to their greater background knowledge of medicine and research methodology. There are also various potential benefits, and greater awareness of this interesting opportunity may encourage more medical students to come forward and volunteer as ‘citizen scientists’.

References

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Flow diagram outlining the pathway into volunteering in evidence-based medicine, showing initial motivations (“The Genesis”), specific volunteer tasks (screening records, data extraction, research activities), and resulting benefits such as skill improvement, mentorship opportunities, certifications, and contributions to evidence-based healthcare.

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Published

2026-03-17 — Updated on 2026-03-17

How to Cite

Pande, S. (2026). Contributing to Evidence Synthesis as a First-Year Medical Student: My Experience with Cochrane Crowd. International Journal of Medical Students, 14(1), 45–47. https://doi.org/10.5195/ijms.2026.4113

Issue

Vol. 14 No. 1 (2026)

Section

Experience

Categories

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Copyright (c) 2026 Shivansh Pande

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