Introduction:

The formation of competent professionals inexorably implies forging investigative aptitudes in the students. Student scientific production has frequently been ignored or undervalued over the years. No few cases have been the students who have made lofty contributions to scientific knowledge. This research focused on those that were conducted in the broad field of cardiovascular medicine.

Objective:

To describe the student's scientific contribution to the basic, clinical and surgical knowledge of the cardiovascular system.

Methods:

A bibliographic review was carried out using Google Scholar search engine. Based on the authors' prior knowledge of the subject, a set of terms was intentionally chosen and subsequently combined into search strategies. After applying inclusion/exclusion criteria to the retrieved articles, sixteen bibliographic review articles were selected.

Result:

Among the main student contributions to the basic, clinical and surgical knowledge of the cardiovascular system, the following are particularly noteworthy: the Raynaud phenomenon, detailed by a student with the same surname; the sinoatrial node, described by Martin Flack; heparin, whose isolation Jay McLean helped; the roller pump designed by Michael DeBakey; and the Thomas Fogarty embolectomy catheter.

Conclusions:

The student scientific contribution, for more than two centuries, had faced formidable obstacles of recognition and credit. When the talent of the university student is channeled and encouraged by the right tutors, extraordinary contributions to scientific knowledge can emanate from him.

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