Knowledge about Kerala University of Health Sciences among Undergraduate Dental Students in Kerala, India - A Cross-Sectional Study.

Introduction: Universities have been providing dental education to dental students through their affiliated dental colleges in India. Currently, there are several literature available pertaining to the academic performance of dental students in various universities. But unfortunately, there has been no literature available pertaining to the knowledge of dental students about the various facilities available, functioning of the university, research funding opportunities, etc., in universities across the globe. This study aims to evaluate the knowledge about Kerala University of Health Sciences (KUHS) among undergraduate dental students in Kerala.

Materials and methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted among undergraduate dental students of 26 dental colleges in Kerala. A total of 526 students participated in the study. A closed-ended questionnaire was distributed to first-year, second-year, third-year and final-year students and interns through Google Forms. The data were computed and analysed.

Results: Among the study participants, 90.5% of the participants knew that KUHS is a state government university. The study showed that only 52.5% of the study participants knew that the Chancellor is the head of KUHS. The present study revealed that 29.7% of the study participants did not know that there is an online question bank in the KUHS website.

Conclusion: This study shows that the majority of the students (81.7%) displayed fair knowledge about Kerala University of Health Sciences. Knowledge about the university will enable students to effectively utilize its resources for their benefit and career advancement.