Academic misconduct among students in medical colleges of Karachi

Objective: To determine the trend of academic misconduct in our medical undergraduate students. Material and methods: This cross sectional study was conducted at three constituent medical colleges of Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi, Pakistan. The students were evaluated by giving a self reported questionnaire containing 10 questions assessing their educational dishonesty and cheating behaviors. Results: A total of 274 students from different years completed the questionnaire. Mean age was 21.48 ± 1.89 years. Most of the students were in 4th year (n=86; 31.3%). There were 182 (66.5%) females and 92 (33.5%) males. Majority of the students (n=155; 55.1%) accepted that they have cheated at least once. There was no significant difference regarding acceptance of cheating among different years of study (p=0.236) however females were found to accept cheating more as compared to males (p=0.036). First year students were found more to copy answers from a friend during an exam (p=0.048) and also seek help from teachers during OSCE (p=0.01). Conclusion: A large number of medical students in our institute admitted cheating. We need to improve our educational system and strict disciplinary action should be taken against those who are found guilty