Knowledge, attitude and perception of medical and dental undergraduates about antimicrobial stewardship

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to identify the current knowledge, attitude, and perception (KAP) of the future prescribers about antimicrobial (AM) education so that the identified lacunae in the training curriculum can be effectively addressed. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A questionnaire-based survey was carried out in the 2(nd) year students of medical and the dental undergraduate (UG) courses at a tertiary care teaching center in Jaipur. Each respondent completed the given questionnaire independently in the allocated time. A scoring system was used to rate the KAP of the respondents as poor, average, or good. RESULTS: Statistically significant differences were found in the KAP of the medical and dental future prescribers (P = 0.0086, 0.0002, and <0.0001 for the KAP, respectively). CONCLUSION: The attitude of the UG students towards AM education is good, but the deficiencies in the knowledge and perception need to be improved further. Suitable interventions to address these lacunae must be planned.