Perceptions and attitudes towards research amongst medical students at Shifa College of Medicine

Objective: To understand medical students' perceptions and attitudes towards research to help facilitators design specific courses according to their needs. Methods: The cross-sectional study was conducted at Shifa College of Medicine, Islamabad, Pakistan, from May to November 2013, and comprised undergraduate medical students. A pre-tested questionnaire was used for data collection. Students' response was recorded on a Likert scale from'strongly disagree' 1 to 'strongly agree' 5. Analysis was done using statistical SPSS17. Results: Of the 195 students enrolled, 172(88%) responded. Overall, 78(45.3%) students said they were aware of research. Research was considered useful for their professional careers and relevant to their daily life by 133(65.7%) students, while 72(41.9%) did not consider it worthwhile to pursue research as a career. Besides, 71(41.3%) students enjoyed research, while 120(70%) perceived research as stressful and 107(62.2) complex. Conclusions: Most students considered research valuable but at the same time they perceived it as stressful and complex.