Knowledge and Attitude of Undergraduate Dental Students towards Research in a private dental institute, karachi

Abstract

Abstract: Background: Scientific research in healthcare is crucial for maintaining oral health and for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of oral disorders. Actually, it is regarded as a basic skill and one of the important areas in the medical education curriculum related to health care. The objective of this study was to evaluation the knowledge and attitude of undergraduate students towards research Methodology: A cross sectional study was conducted from BDS students using non probability convenient sampling technique. Study was conducted from a private dental institute from December 2023-may 2024. The estimated sample size was 160 using Open epi version 3.01, after inserting the prevalence 88.2% participants feel that they can plan and prepare research, with 95% confidence interval and 5% margin of error. Results: The research was conducted on 168 students from different BDS years. The majority of participants were in the age group of 20-25years (73.8%). Of the students, 40.5% were familiar with the literature review procedure; the majority of participants were from BDS's second and third years. About 42.8% of students expressed interest in pursuing this research as part of their dental profession. Reasons given by students for not being interested in doing research, 27% of the student recommended lack of time and lack of resources as the limitation in pursing research study. Conclusion: Research culture needs to be promoted since it benefits patients' health and the community that students will serve in addition to their career paths. It takes a foundational understanding of research methodology to practice medicine and dentistry competently. Engagement in research is the most effective means of achieving this familiarity Keywords: biomedical research, curriculum, students, evidence based medicine, research design, developing countries