Assessment of knowledge, attitude, and practices of research among faculties in medical college

Abstract

Medical research aims to advance knowledge, skills, and professionalism. Lack of research could lead to the demise of the profession as a viable discipline. Research orientation is a concept that incorporates four subscales and provides insight into faculties' overall perception of research. To assess the knowledge, attitude, and practices regarding research and to identify barriers for research among medical faculty. Our study is a questionnaire-based cross-sectional study covering 110 faculties of medical college. Data collection was done through the Edmonton research orientation survey (EROS), a pre-validated tool. EROS questionnaire consists of 50 questions in two sections –the first section containing demographic variables (12 questions) and the second section (consist of 38 items) asks the respondents to rate on a five-point Likert’s scale. A high response rate (90.9%) was achieved. Sixty-five percent of respondents achieved an overall medium EROS score and 33% of respondents achieved a high EROS score (mean Eros score 132.3+21.7) indicating high research orientation. Respondents showed high subscale scores: valuing research (63%) and being at the leading edge of the profession (66%). While involvement in research (47%) and evidence-based practice (53%) scored lower. The study highlighted important barriers like lack of time, skills and support. The results suggest that although faculties value research they engage less in carrying out and applying research. The positive research orientation provides an opportunity for the profession to use the available potential to increase research output.