Attitudes and Perceived Barriers among Medical Students towards Clinical Research: A Cross-Sectional Study in an Egyptian Medical School

Background. Despite the key role played by physician-investigators in bridging basic and clinical sciences, their number has declined significantly in the last decades especially in developing countries. Thus, we aimed to investigate attitudes and perceived barriers towards participation in clinical research among medical students in an Egyptian medical school. Methods. We employed a cross-sectional design, in which 420 students from the Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University completed a self-administrated questionnaire to assess their attitudes, perceived barriers, and knowledge about clinical research. The results were analyzed considering the students’ gender, year of enrollment, and high school background. Results. Seventy medical students from each year of enrollment participated in the study. The majority of students (74.2%) agree that undergraduates should participate in clinical research. However, only 23.8% reported engagement in related activities. Students showed low knowledge scores of 1.9 ± 0.3 on a scale of six questions. They highlighted several barriers against research participation including lack of time, proper mentoring, and funding. Conclusion. Although the majority of students showed positive attitudes towards clinical research, they reported low participation in related activities, associated with low knowledge scores. Several barriers should be addressed as lack of time, funding, and proper mentoring.