Awareness and needs for intellectual property education among health-related department university students

Objectives: This study aimed to measure the awareness and needs for intellectual property (IP) education among university students majoring in health-related fields to inform the development of future IP education curricula. Methods: The study was conducted through an online survey from January 5 to 26, 2024, targeting students from the health-related departments (Department of Physical Therapy, Health Administration, Clinical Laboratory Science, and Dental Hygiene) at Dankook University located in Cheonan City, Chungcheongnam-do. Results: A total of 151 students participated in the survey. Among the respondents, 84.8% were women, and the largest groups of respondents were from the Health Administration and Dental Hygiene departments, each accounting for 32.5%. Only 13.9% of the respondents had taken courses related to IP, and 22.5% had related activity experience. The overall average importance score of IP education was 3.88 (±0.80), and the overall average need score was 3.78 (±0.80). An Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA) Matrix analysis revealed that 13 topics fell into the first quadrant (high importance, high need), one topic into the second quadrant (low importance, high need), 18 topics into the third quadrant (low importance, low need), and four topics into the fourth quadrant (high importance, low need). The educational topics identified as first quadrant include ‘Securing patent rights’, ‘Requirements for patent registration’, ‘Effects and contents of patent rights’, ‘Patent infringement and remedies’, and ‘Effects and contents of copyrights’. Conclusions: Future IP education programs should develop innovative educational content and methods that consider both the importance and needs to increase students’ interest and engagement.