KAP Survey of Dental Students About Scientific Research

Background: Research is an essential component of the academic curriculum and its importance in health care must be appreciated. It enables the students to critically analyses the information in clinical decision making and care of patients. The objective of the study was to evaluate research-oriented knowledge, attitude, and practices amongst undergraduates and house surgeons. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted among undergraduate dental students and house surgeons of Baqai Dental College from November to December-2018. Ethical approval was obtained from the ethical committee of the Baqai Dental College. Permission for data collection was obtained from the Research and Development Department, and the Principal of the Dental College. The sample size was calculated to be 243 using Open Epi version 3.03 by taking 20% prevalence rate with 95% confidence interval and ????=5%. Participants were selected by convenience sampling technique and a pretested Questionnaire, was distributed. Results: Out of total,84 participants were males and 159 females. 1st and 2nd year students were more confident in interpreting and writing research paper. Final year students and house surgeons were more interested in reading research journals and participating in research methodology workshops. 41.2% of the respondents preferred Google scholar for literature search. Conclusion: Adequate knowledge about research was found among all the participants while research-based practice was more among final year dental students and house surgeons