Medical and dental students' knowledge and perceptions about antimicrobial stewardship: a call for educational enhancement

Purpose: To explore the knowledge of antibiotics use and resistance among medical and dental students. Methods: A 26-item online questionnaire on antimicrobial prescribing was distributed to Medical and Dental students at eight universities from the period of July to August 2020. Results: Five hundred three students completed the questionnaire; The mean age was 22.15 ± 1.99 and 66.4% were female students. The majority (91.5%) of the students were from governmental universities and (73.4%) were from medical colleges. It was found that 87% of students were not familiar with and unaware of the term antimicrobial stewardship. Overall knowledge about antibiotics identified that 30 (6%) students had good knowledge while 402 (80%) students have fair knowledge. Around 91% of the students agreed that the inappropriate use of antibiotics causes antibiotic resistance and that a strong understanding and knowledge of antibiotics is essential in their careers. Conclusions: To control the growing problem of antibiotic resistance, future prescribers' education related to the appropriate use of antibiotics is important. Efforts must be undertaken to educate medical and dental students about the practices of the appropriate use of antibiotics and principles of antimicrobial stewardship.