Assessment of Knowledge, Attitude, Perceived Barriers towards Research among First Year Undergraduate Medical Students: A Study from Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

Introduction: Developing research skills and attitude to practice health research is an important area to be focused during undergraduate medical education. Aim: To assess the knowledge, attitude and perceived barriers among first year medical students to practice research skills during under graduate medical course. Materials and Methods: This survey-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 205 (male: 93, female: 112) first year medical undergraduate students of a tertiary care medical school in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. The questionnaire consisted of demographic data, four true or false type, three open-ended questions for knowledge, a Likert’s scale of point 1-5 to assess the perceived promoting factors and barriers to taking up research during under graduation and yes or no type questions to assess the practice of research. Analysis of data were done using SPSS version 16.0 and data is expressed in proportions. Results: The survey results showed 72% of the participants had an acceptable level of knowledge on the basic research concepts and 81% of them had a high positive attitude to practice research during different years of undergraduate medical course. The mainly perceived barriers are lack of time (79%), lack of research skills training (87%) and academic overload to acquire professional skills (50%), to take up research during under graduation. Conclusion: The study participants are with moderate awareness towards research skills and very positive to take up research during their under graduation period. The structured research skills training and effective support system will help them to overcome the barriers and motivate them to undertake research and also pursue research as a career.