Inclination of undergraduate medical students towards research: A cross sectional study Roopa B.1, Sree Karuna P.2*, Rao Venkata Y.3 1Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacology, RVM Medical College, Hyderabad, Telangana State, India 2Associate Professor, Department of Pharmacology, ESIC Medical College, Sanathnagar, Hyderabad, Telangana State, India 3Professor & Head, Department of Pharmacology, Kamineni Institute of Medical Sciences, Narketpally, Nalgonda District, Telangana State, India *Corresponding author email id: drpkarunasri@gmail.com
Online published on 10 February, 2021. Abstract Background: Evidence based medicine contributes significantly to advancement of medical practice. Involvement in research helps in improving one's critical analytical thinking skills. In our country, not many clinicians are into the field of research. Hence, doctors need to have orientation towards the research right from their undergraduate level. Before orienting students towards research, preliminary needs assessment was required; hence the present study was planned to assess how far the students are inclined towards research. Objective: To assess the knowledge, attitude and perception of undergraduate (UG) medical students towards the research and research career. Methodology: It was a cross-sectional questionnaire-based study conducted at Kamineni Institute of Medical Sciences, Narketpally, on 5 th semester MBBS students who volunteered to participate in the study were included unanimously. The tool used was a semi structured questionnaire consisting of both close and open ended questions to assess the inclination of students towards the research. After taking informed consent, students were briefed about the study as well as the questionnaire and adequate time was given to fill it. Data was entered in Microsoft excel sheet and statistical analysis was done using SPSS version 10. Data was analyzed and the results were expressed in percentages and proportions. Results: Total 130 students participated in the study and majority were female (56.92%). 94% of students felt research was important in the medical field. 65% of students were not aware of term research methodology. Only 12.31% were part of a research team. 61% students felt that books, equipment, journals, library and internet were the sources of information to do research. Only 5% students were interested in publishing their study. 28% opted to take research as a career. Conclusion: Majority of students felt that research was important but were not aware of concepts of research methodology. Hence, training of undergraduate medical students in research methodology, motivating them to participate in research and by including research in UG medical curriculum helps in practice of evidence based medicine. Top Keywords Medical undergraduate curriculum, Medical undergraduates, Questionnaire, Research methodology, Research, Telangana state. Top |