Perceptions, attitudes and practices toward research among senior medical students

We aimed to explore perceptions, attitudes and practices toward research among medical students. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed among senior medical students at the King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Hundred and seventy two students participated in the study, with 97 males (65.5%). The majority of the students agreed that research is important in the medical field (97.1%, 167/172). A total of 67.4% (116/172) believed that conducting research should be mandatory for all medical students. During medical school, 55.3% (88/159) participated in research. The obstacles that prevented the students from conducting research included lack of professional supervisors (84.7%, 143/169), lack of training courses (88.8%, 151/170), lack of time (72.3%, 123/172) and lack of funding (54.1%, 92/170). Although the majority of students believe that research is important in the medical field, only around half of the students participated in research during medical school.