An Unrecognized Problem? Health Science Students’ Awareness of and Attitudes towards Clinical Research and Biothics - An Experience from Jordan

Background: This study is the first of its kind in Jordan to survey knowledge, attitude and participation ofhealth sciences students at The University of Jordan (UJ) towards clinical research.Aim. To investigate UJ undergraduate Health Sciences final year students’ knowledge, attitudes towards andparticipation of students in clinical research.Methods: A self-administered structured questionnaire, composed of 28 questions with pre-formulated answerswas used. The questionnaire contained questions that examined the knowledge, attitudes towards andparticipation of students in clinical research. Target sample was 250 students of the 5 health sciences faculties(Medicine, Pharmacy, Dentistry, Nursing and Rehabilitation sciences). Data was coded and entered into SPSSdatabase for Windows-version 17 for analysis.Results: out of 250 questionnaires distributed, 240 were completed (response rate= 96.0%). The majority ofrespondents (84.5%) reported that they had heard of the term clinical research studies (CRS) before. However,only 59.6% correctly identified the definition of CRS, and only 38.2% knew that this type of research isconducted in Jordan. Only 3.4% identified the term IRB , and only 6.4% identified declaration of Helsinki . Themost common source of knowledge of this information was university courses and seminars (62.2%).Conclusion: This study concludes that the training in the clinical research and bioethics area among healthsciences students at UJ is still unsatisfactory. We hope that the data of this preliminary study inspires furtherdevelopment and refinement of educational approaches