RESEARCH AMONGST JUNIOR AND SENIOR MEDICAL STUDENTS

Abstract

Background: Evidence based scientific knowledge and research is an integralpart of medicine. This led us to this study to find out the knowledge, attitude and practiceregarding research in medical students of final year and first year at Army Medical College-NUST, Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Objectives: The objectives of the study were to compare thelevel of knowledge, attitude and practice regarding research amongst medical students of finalyear MBBS and 1st year MBBS. Study Design: Cross sectional descriptive study. Place ofStudy: Army Medical College-NUST Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Duration of Study: Three months(October 2013 to December 2013). Materials and Methods: A questionnaire consisting of 23closed questions, was filled by students of first and final year MBBS, through non-probabilityconvenience sampling. The data was analyzed by SPSS 21. p value of < 0.05 was consideredto be significant. Results: Over 50% of first year students and 21.53% of the final year studentshad poor knowledge of research methodology. 89.30% students from final year along with51.30% students from first year were motivated and had interest in research activities. Not asingle student from first year and only 12.37% of students from final year were actively involvedin research process at the time of undertaking the research. 50.40% first year students and58.46% from final year strongly disagreed that there are ample opportunities for research inthe college. Conclusions: A working scientific forum should be established in the collegewith introduction of student mentor link. Students should be guided on how to carry out aresearch and how to make a good research question, how to develop skills for paper writingand evaluating the data collected.