Interest in research among the undergraduate students of medical and dental colleges of Pakistan.

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of this study was to find the interest in research among the undergraduate students of medical and dental colleges of Pakistan. Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Amongst the students of four medical institutes. Period: April to May 2018. Material & Methods: Sample size was 500 of undergraduate MBBS and BDS students from 1^st year to final year. Participants were given a questionnaire and responses were analyzed with SPSS software version 21. Results: The mean age of participants was 23.24 +/- 1.85 years. Female students were more (63%) as compared to male students (37%). Seventy percent (70%) students were interested in different research work and more than 85% students were interested to continue their future career in academics. Participants were more interested in practical training as compared to research and theory. Most of the students were interested to carry out research in clinical field as compared to non-clinical field. The knowledge of research methodology was more in senior students. Student’s knowledge about “impact factor of journal” was low. Conclusion: In this research it has been found that a good number of participants were interested in research activities so measures should be taken to facilitate and motivate them by giving some sort of award to the researchers to increase the publications from Pakistan. Easy access to internet facilities must be provided to promote research activities. Efforts should be made to find out reasons why some students consider research less important. It is also need of the day to develop culture of research by senior faculty members of academic institutes.