Nivel de interés en investigación de los estudiantes de medicina en universidades bolivianas

Abstract

Introduction: undergraduate medical research evolves throughout the world, but in Latin America, especially in Bolivia, there are still many barriers to overcome. There are quite a few difficulties to achieve the publication of articles in indexed journals, these vary from the time factor to the lack of interest of the universities. The aim was to identify the factors that influence the scientific activity of medical students.

Methods: qualitative, descriptive and cross-sectional approach, infi- nite population based on medical students from public and private universities of seven departments in Bolivia. The exclusion criteria are people not enrolled in the current semester, students who did not ac- cept informed consent, and students from universities that are not located in Bolivia.

Results: 525 students from 15 state and private universities from seven departments of Bolivia participated in this study. Of these, 73% have no published work. On the difficulties in carrying out a research work, 47.3% are the lack of time. Regarding the benefits of research, 42.6% believe that knowledge is the main benefit. Regarding the reasons why they do not publish their work, 27.7% say that it is a time factor. Finally, it was asked about the perception of importance of un- dergraduate research, 47.4% say that it is very important.

Conclusion: currently there are various tools to enter the field of research, several medical schools are committed to methodology courses to promote scientific production.

Received: 06/23/2021. Accepted: 10/30/2021