Attitudes and Views of Medical Students toward Science and Pseudoscience

Abstract

Objectives: To know opinions, attitudes and interest of medical students toward science and pseudoscience. Design: A questionnaire was administered to 124 medical students of the San Marcos University in Lima, Peru. Results: 173 students were surveyed. The response rate was 72%. Eighty-three percent (100/121) of respondents said that science is the best source of knowledge, 67% (82/123) said they were interested in science and technology news, 76% said they had not read any science magazine or book (other than medical texts and journals) in the last five years. Thirteen percent (16/124) of respondents said that astrology is “very scientific” and 40% (50/124) stated that it is “sort of scientific.” 50% of respondents shared the opinion that some people possess psychic powers. Conclusions: Medical students' attitudes toward science are generally not favorable. Keywords: Attitudes, views, scientific knowledge, medical education, scientific literacy.