Final-Year South African Dental Student Attitudes Toward a Research Component in the Curriculum

South Africa has recently introduced a compulsory research component into the undergraduate dental curriculum. This study was undertaken to establish how the students experienced the research exercise and what outcomes could be determined. A questionnaire of thirteen open- and closed-ended questions was distributed to final-year students at all four South African dental schools. A response rate of 56 percent was achieved, with 127 completed questionnaires returned. Forty-four percent of students enjoyed the research, 34 percent would have liked to have done more research, and 92 percent regarded research as being important in dentistry. Open-ended questions revealed that time, topic, financial, and group work issues hindered students' research experiences. This is in common with dental undergraduates elsewhere. Positive outcomes related to acquaintance with scientific literature, desire for further study, support from their research supervisor, and acknowledgment of a constructive learning event. South African dental undergraduates may not like the research component, but this is not due to lack of enthusiasm on their part. It appears that both internal and external factors impacting the South African dental academic system are influencing their research experience and making it unattractive. These factors should be identified and addressed at the school level where it is possible to optimize student research training.