Current status, knowledge and attitude towards research among interns of dental colleges in Pune, Maharashtra

Background and objectives: World today is moving towards “Evidence based Medicine” and to promote this, provision of only academic training is not sufficient. In countries like India, Undergraduate dental students have very less exposure to fundamentals of research which may lead to a compromised scientific acumen. This prevents them from conducting and appreciating scientific research during their advanced professional careers and ultimately impacts the quality of research in the specialty. Hence this multi-centric study was conducted to assess the current status, knowledge and attitude of interns of dental institutes of Pune, Maharashtra towards research during Under graduate dental course. Methodology: After obtaining due permissions, data was collected from 268 students doing internship in three different dental institutions in the city of Pune, Maharashtra. A structured questionnaire was first validated and then used for the same. The data were analyzed using descriptive analysis. Results: Results indicated low awareness and knowledge regarding research basics amongst the interns. Perceived importance of research was also moderate to low amongst the interns. However, more than three-fourth of the participants opined that there should be basic research training during their internship program to facilitate research activities.