Readiness of undergraduate medical students to health research and factors influencing it in a medical college – A cross-sectional study

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Objectives: Developing, maintaining, and sustaining undergraduate medical students’ research involvement will enable future healthcare practitioners to practice more appropriate evidence-based clinical medicine. This study aim to assess the readiness for health research and factors promoting it among Undergraduate medical students. Materials and Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among undergraduate medical students in Puducherry over 3 months (August–October 2023). Systematic random sampling was applied to recruit 360 study participants. A validated pre-tested semi-structured self-administered questionnaire was used to gather data on sociodemographic, readiness, participation, attitude, perceived motivational factors, and barriers toward health research. Data were entered in MS EXCEL 2019 and analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences v16.0. The quantitative variables were represented in mean and qualitative variables in proportion. Chi-square test and logistic regression analysis were applied to identify the factors influencing readiness to health research among undergraduate Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery students. Results: A total of 360 participants with a mean age of 20.7 ± 0.64 were recruited, demonstrating a nearly equal gender distribution (male 48.3% and female 51.7%). Approximately 76.4% scored ≥60% in their recent university examinations, and 86.7% resided in hostels. While 11.4% reported prior participation in health research, 32.5% expressed readiness to participate, influenced by factors such as the competency-based medical education (CBME) approach and academic performance (P = 0.043). Major barriers identified included lack of funding (88.8%), lack of time (80.3%), and mentorship (52.9%). Logistic regression analysis revealed that higher examination grades significantly increased readiness to research (aOR: 1.936, P = 0.027) and also participation for health research (aOR: 3.366, P = 0.029), while non-CBME participants showed lower odds of participation (aOR: 0.321, P = 0.006). Conclusion: Medical institutes should implement structured mentorship programs, require research courses as part of the curriculum, and provide sufficient funding for student-led projects. Addressing these strategies within the institutes could foster a research-oriented culture, thus ultimately improve quality patient care and broader medical knowledge.