Insight of Medical Students of Clinical Years to Antimicrobials Prescribing and Resistance in Private Medical School, Chittagong, Bangladesh

Background: Physicians formally receive education regarding antimicrobials and microbial resistance during a 5-6 year curriculum of the undergraduate medical program. However, the once magical bullet of antibiotics is now threatened by AR, which has become a significant hazard to global health. Thus, a doctor must possess the adequate knowledge to select an antibiotic or other drug for use in a particular disease. This issue is not currently being addressed in the undergraduate curriculum resulting in irrational prescribing. Therefore, it is essential to possess a comprehensive knowledge regarding drugs, including antimicrobials at an undergraduate level. Currently, there is no comprehensive evaluation of medical students’ perception of AR in Bangladesh. This was the driving force to conduct this study and to identify gaps in KAP of medical students about AR, as well as to enrich the medical curriculum. Methods: This is a cross-sectional, randomized, questionnaire-based study. Data were collected using a validated instrument. Results: 107 students were selected using a quota sampling technique. A total of 107 participants (32.71% male and 67.29% female) attended the study. The response rate was 100%. Out of the cohort; 37.38%, 30.84%, and 31.78% were from the Year-III, Year-IV, and Year-V respectively. The participants felt more confident in ‘Making an accurate diagnosis of infection/ sepsis.’ Conclusion: Our study population found to be suffering from a lack of confidence partially due to a gap in their knowledge about the proper selection of antimicrobials.