Knowledge Levels of Medical Faculty Clinical Term Students About Rabies Prophylaxis: An Observational Study

Aim: Rabies is a 100% preventable disease with pre- and post-exposure prophylaxis. The aim of this study is to investigate the level of knowledge of clinical term students at Kirikkale University Faculty of Medicine regarding rabies prophylaxis. Method: This cross sectional study was performed between May 2025- July 2025 among 201 pre-graduate medical students who were studying at Kirikkale University Faculty of Medicine. The questionnaire form, which aimed to measure the level of knowledge about rabies prophylaxis, was prepared by the researchers based on the Turkish Ministry of Health Field Guidelines for Rabies and consisted of 20 questions in total. Correct answers are scored 1 point, while incorrect or “I don't know” answers receive 0 points. Scores of 0-7 represent an insufficient level of knowledge, 8-16 represent an intermediate level of knowledge, and 17 and above represent a sufficient level of knowledge. The comparison of categorical variables was done using the Fisher's exact test and the chi-square test. P < 0.05 was considered as significant for all tests. Results: The mean age of the 201 participants was 23.58 ± 2.97 and 52.7% (n=106) were female. We found a moderate levels of knowledge (12.37 ± 3.97 total score) about rabies prophylaxis among medical students. According to sufficiency level, only 17.9% of the participants had adequate knowledge level. Conclusion: This study highlights that, both in terms of implementing the right management in practice and preventing unnecessary use of resources, students and post-graduate physicians should be reminded through lectures, courses or online trainings in order to repeat the knowledge about rabies prophylaxis and keep it up to date.