Social Accountability in Medical Student Scholarly Projects: A Call for Intentional Integration.

Background: While social accountability is integrated into clinical training at many institutions, its role in medical scholarly projects remains unexplored. While much has been studied on social accountability in medical education and service, little is known about how it is approached in research. Therefore, we examined whether community partnerships were included in student plans, the community's role in the research process, and health equity outcomes as measures of social accountability. Methods: We approached this observational study in two stages. In stage 1, we reviewed medical student research proposals. In stage 2, students self-identified where their projects fell on a social accountability spectrum. Results: In stage 1, we reviewed all 75 proposals submitted by the graduating class of 2025, which revealed that most student project plans lacked community involvement and that most scholarly work did not contribute to improving health equity or was not expected to. We determined that 84% (N = 63) of medical scholarly work fell outside the realm of social accountability. Fifty-seven students (N=57 of 414 total students, 14%) responded to the voluntary survey in Stage 2, recruited via a QR code embedded in the mandatory final project form. There was a shift in project self-classification after definitions of social responsiveness, social responsibility, and social accountability were provided. Respondents identified strategies to enhance accountability; however, the majority did not plan to implement these changes. Conclusion: Most scholarly projects by medical students reviewed lacked meaningful community engagement and measurable contributions to health equity. Students demonstrated improved understanding of social accountability when definitions were explicitly provided, yet the majority did not plan to act on identified strategies. These findings reveal a critical gap between institutional commitment to social accountability and its integration into student research, underscoring the need for intentional curricular interventions and structured mentorship in socially accountable research practices.