Knowledge and attitudes of undergraduate medical students with regard to medical research at a South African university

Abstract

Background. The early introduction of medical students to medical research-related courses is one of the innovative solutions devised by medical schools to address the dearth of physician-scientists. Objective. To describe the knowledge and attitudes of medical students towards medical research at a medical school where research and measurement skills are taught from the first year of study. Methods. A validated, pretested self-administered questionnaire was employed in a cross-sectional study to collect data from 228 third- and fourthyear medical students at Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University (SMU), Pretoria, South Africa in April 2017. Knowledge of medical research was assessed with a 15-item questionnaire, and attitude towards research was measured with a 10-item scale. The data were analysed with Epi Info (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, USA) and findings are presented as means, percentages, proportions and tables. The χ² test was used to assess association amo)