title: Perceptions and attitudes towards research amongst medical students at Shifa College of Medicine.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To understand medical students' perceptions and attitudes towards research to help facilitators design specific courses according to their needs.
  
  
  METHODS
  The cross-sectional study was conducted at Shifa College of Medicine, Islamabad, Pakistan, from May to November 2013, and comprised undergraduate medical students. A pre-tested questionnaire was used for data collection. Students' response was recorded on a Likert scale from 'strongly disagree' 1 to 'strongly agree' 5. Analysis was done using statistical SPSS17.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 195 students enrolled, 172(88%) responded. Overall, 78(45.3%) students said they were aware of research. Research was considered useful for their professional careers and relevant to their daily life by 133(65.7%) students, while 72(41.9%) did not consider it worthwhile to pursue research as a career. Besides, 71(41.3%) students enjoyed research, while 120(70%) perceived research as stressful and 107(62.2) complex.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Most students considered research valuable but at the same time they perceived it as stressful and complex.
authors.affiliation: Shifa International Hospital & Shifa College of Medicine, Islamabad.
authors.forename: Lubna
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Meraj
authors.affiliation: Shifa International Hospital & Shifa College of Medicine, Islamabad.
authors.forename: Naheed
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Gul
authors.affiliation: Shifa International Hospital & Shifa College of Medicine, Islamabad.
authors.forename: Ijaz
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Akhter
authors.affiliation: Shifa International Hospital & Shifa College of Medicine, Islamabad.
authors.forename: Farreeha
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Iram
authors.affiliation: Shifa International Hospital & Shifa College of Medicine, Islamabad.
authors.forename: Abdus Salam
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Khan
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D035843:Biomedical Research; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D020380:Needs Assessment; D010154:Pakistan; D012938:Social Perception; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Research study, Perceptions, Attitudes, Undergraduate medical students, Subgroup analysis.