Perceptions, barriers, and practices of medical research among students at Taibah College of Medicine, Madinah, Saudi Arabia

BACKGROUND: Research is an extremely crucial element in the advancement and improvement of health care services provided to the public. AIM: To assess perceptions, barriers, and practices of medical research among students at Taibah College of Medicine, Madinah, Saudi Arabia. METHODS: A cross-sectional, self-administered, validated, pretested, and structured questionnaire was completed by 233 medical students (third, fourth, and fifth study year). The questionnaire consisted of demographic data, students’ attitude, practices, and barriers. The collected data were analyzed using appropriate statistical methods including predictive logistic regression models. The level of statistical significance was defined as P#0.05. RESULTS: The overall response rate was 64.7% (233/360). The mean age of the studied students was 22.6±1.1 years, of them 50.1% were males and 48.9% were females. The average attitude score was significantly higher among fourth- and fifth-year medical students compared with that of the third-year students. There has been a statistically significant difference between male and female students regarding their practice of medical research where the higher percent of students reported participation in previous medical research was among female students (79%). The most important obstacle predictors implicated in not conducting research among all the studied students were inadequate facility for research, lack of interest by faculty or guide, and unavailability of the samples or patients. CONCLUSION: The students in the study showed a moderately high positive attitude toward medical research. Addressing and solving perceived students’ barriers by faculty staff and administrators are essential in order to ensure an improvement in research activities among medical students.