While undergraduate research has been part of the learning culture in some disciplines for many years, it is only more recently that it is being included into mainstream medical curricula. Undergraduate medical students at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, have several opportunities to undertake research during their studies, both locally and abroad. Following a documentary analysis of curricular and extra-curricular research over the past five years, supervised undergraduate student research activities and outcomes were compared with published criteria for scholarship and were judged to meet the standards. Suggestions for improved productivity relating to student research have been made. (Contains 5 tables.)