Ayesha Haider, Zafar Hayat Maken, Nadia Junaid, Agha Syed Ali Haider Naqvi, Muhammad Haris Ramzan, Syeda Zuha Naqvi, Umar Mustafa, Muhammad Abdul Basit.
Trend of medical research journal and article reading among medical students - an experimental approach.
Pak J Public Health Jan ;10(1):16-23.

Background: We conducted this study to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of medical research journals and article reading among medical students, to point out factors contributing to perceived barriers towards this activity and to investigate the effect of research seminars, workshops, motivation and mentorship of medical students. Methods: A medical college based experimental study was carried out in two phases, in which second, third- and fourth-year medical students attending the lectures of community medicine were enrolled. A well-structured questionnaire was used to assess the attitude of students, towards research-based activities. Based on the results, the students who showed lack of interest towards research were divided into two groups, experimental and control for the second phase of the study and were subjected to the final questionnaire, the results were then recorded and the data was analyzed using statistical techniques. Results: 226 students recruited for the first part of the study, showed lack of motivation, guidance, mentorship, and curriculum overload as significant factors affecting their research activities. Whereas in second part of the study, the experimental group showed an increase of 23 – 35 % in research activities after research mentorship programs as compared to the control group. Conclusion: The proper understanding of research was generally low among medical students. Lack of motivation, mentorship, and curriculum overload were among the leading factors affecting their attitude towards research. The motivational lectures, and mentorship programs proved very successful in improving student's knowledge about research and research-based activities.

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