The Attitude of Medical and Pharmacy Students towards Research Activities: A Multicenter Approach
Aim: To assess the attitude of medical and pharmacy students in Asian and African universities towards scholarly research activities. Methods: An anonymous, cross-sectional, self-reported online survey questionnaire was administered to medical and pharmacy students studying in various Asian and Afri...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2017-10-01
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| Series: | Pharmacy |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2226-4787/5/4/55 |
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| author | Akshaya Srikanth Bhagavathula Deepak Kumar Bandari Yonas Getaye Tefera Shazia Qasim Jamshed Asim Ahmed Elnour Abdulla Shehab |
| author_facet | Akshaya Srikanth Bhagavathula Deepak Kumar Bandari Yonas Getaye Tefera Shazia Qasim Jamshed Asim Ahmed Elnour Abdulla Shehab |
| author_sort | Akshaya Srikanth Bhagavathula |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Aim: To assess the attitude of medical and pharmacy students in Asian and African universities towards scholarly research activities. Methods: An anonymous, cross-sectional, self-reported online survey questionnaire was administered to medical and pharmacy students studying in various Asian and African universities through social media between May and July 2016. A 68-item close-ended questionnaire consisting of Likert-scale options assessed the students’ research-specific experiences, and their attitudes towards scholarly research publications. Results: A total of 512 questionnaires were completed, with a response rate of 92% from Asia and 94% from Africa. More pharmacy students (70.8%) participated than medical students (29.2%). Overall 52.2% of the pharmacy students and 40% of medical students believed that research activities provided a means of gaining respect from their faculty members. Lack of encouragement, paucity of time, gaps in research activities and practices, and lack of research funding were some of the most common barriers acknowledged by the students. A nonparametric Mann-Whitney test showed that a statistically significant difference was observed, in that more than 80% of the pharmacy students viewed scientific writing and research activities as valuable experiences (p = 0.001) and would like to involve their co-students in scholarly research activities (p = 0.002); whereas the majority of the medical students desired to be involved more in scholarly research publications (p = 0.033). Conclusion: Pharmacy students had good attitudes towards research activities and a higher number of medical students desired to be involved more in research publications. Faculties may consider taking special research initiatives to address the barriers and improve the involvement of medical and pharmacy students in scholarly research activities. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T11:11:27Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-2c511b796e5a4176be3b4acf32f6dfc4 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2226-4787 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T11:11:27Z |
| publishDate | 2017-10-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Pharmacy |
| spelling | doaj.art-2c511b796e5a4176be3b4acf32f6dfc42022-12-22T04:27:28ZengMDPI AGPharmacy2226-47872017-10-01545510.3390/pharmacy5040055pharmacy5040055The Attitude of Medical and Pharmacy Students towards Research Activities: A Multicenter ApproachAkshaya Srikanth Bhagavathula0Deepak Kumar Bandari1Yonas Getaye Tefera2Shazia Qasim Jamshed3Asim Ahmed Elnour4Abdulla Shehab5Department of Clinical Pharmacy, University of Gondar-College of Medicine and Health Sciences, School of Pharmacy, Gondar 196, EthiopiaDepartment of Clinical Pharmacy, Vaagdevi College of Pharmacy, Warangal 506001, Telangana, IndiaDepartment of Clinical Pharmacy, University of Gondar-College of Medicine and Health Sciences, School of Pharmacy, Gondar 196, EthiopiaDepartment of Pharmacy Practice, Kulliyyah of Pharmacy, International Islamic University Malaysia, Kuantan 25200, Pahang, MalaysiaFaculty of Pharmacy, Fathima College of Health Sciences, Al Ain Campus, Al Ain 24162, UAEDepartment of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, UAE University, Al Ain 17666, UAEAim: To assess the attitude of medical and pharmacy students in Asian and African universities towards scholarly research activities. Methods: An anonymous, cross-sectional, self-reported online survey questionnaire was administered to medical and pharmacy students studying in various Asian and African universities through social media between May and July 2016. A 68-item close-ended questionnaire consisting of Likert-scale options assessed the students’ research-specific experiences, and their attitudes towards scholarly research publications. Results: A total of 512 questionnaires were completed, with a response rate of 92% from Asia and 94% from Africa. More pharmacy students (70.8%) participated than medical students (29.2%). Overall 52.2% of the pharmacy students and 40% of medical students believed that research activities provided a means of gaining respect from their faculty members. Lack of encouragement, paucity of time, gaps in research activities and practices, and lack of research funding were some of the most common barriers acknowledged by the students. A nonparametric Mann-Whitney test showed that a statistically significant difference was observed, in that more than 80% of the pharmacy students viewed scientific writing and research activities as valuable experiences (p = 0.001) and would like to involve their co-students in scholarly research activities (p = 0.002); whereas the majority of the medical students desired to be involved more in scholarly research publications (p = 0.033). Conclusion: Pharmacy students had good attitudes towards research activities and a higher number of medical students desired to be involved more in research publications. Faculties may consider taking special research initiatives to address the barriers and improve the involvement of medical and pharmacy students in scholarly research activities.https://www.mdpi.com/2226-4787/5/4/55medical studentspharmacy studentsattituderesearch activitiespublications |
| spellingShingle | Akshaya Srikanth Bhagavathula Deepak Kumar Bandari Yonas Getaye Tefera Shazia Qasim Jamshed Asim Ahmed Elnour Abdulla Shehab The Attitude of Medical and Pharmacy Students towards Research Activities: A Multicenter Approach Pharmacy medical students pharmacy students attitude research activities publications |
| title | The Attitude of Medical and Pharmacy Students towards Research Activities: A Multicenter Approach |
| title_full | The Attitude of Medical and Pharmacy Students towards Research Activities: A Multicenter Approach |
| title_fullStr | The Attitude of Medical and Pharmacy Students towards Research Activities: A Multicenter Approach |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Attitude of Medical and Pharmacy Students towards Research Activities: A Multicenter Approach |
| title_short | The Attitude of Medical and Pharmacy Students towards Research Activities: A Multicenter Approach |
| title_sort | attitude of medical and pharmacy students towards research activities a multicenter approach |
| topic | medical students pharmacy students attitude research activities publications |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2226-4787/5/4/55 |
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