Abstract: Objective The reasons of medical students failing to complete the extracurricular research projects.Methods The completion of extracurricular research projects by medical students from the year 1990 to 2015 was investigated retrospectively. The reasons of medical students failing to complete the extracurricular research projects were analyzed. Results A total of 32 medical students participated in 35 research projects led by our team, among which 23 projects were completed (65.71%). The major failure reasons of 12 uncompleted projects included: lack of enthusiasm from instructor(4, 33.33%), lack of capacity of students(3, 25.00%), lack of interest from students (2, 16.67%), lack of teamwork from students (16.67%), lack of innovation of the project (1, 8.33%). Conclusion It is desireable to improve the outcomes of the medical students’ extracurricular scientific acitivities by improving the instructor's enthusiasm and the students’ teamwork, establishing the students’ interest and innovation, and following individualized instructional strategies.

Key words: medical students, extracurricular activities, research projects