Abstract

Background: Acad emic dishonesty, or cheating as commonly expressed, is an age -old practice that is widespread across the whole world. The Kenyan experience is anecdotal with limited studies, especially in medical schools. This study shares the experience of medical st udents about this challenging vice. Objec tive: To de termine the level and forms of academic dishonesty in Moi University, School of Medicine. De s ign: Cr oss -s ectional study using self -administered questionnaire. Set t ing: Th e School of Medicine, Moi University, Eldoret - Kenya. Subje cts: One hun dred and fifty -six students in the clinical (4 th , 5 th , and 6 th ) year s of study. Re su lts: Ei g hty percent of the students were aware of academic dishonesty, 75% had witnessed it in progress while 60.9% confessed to participating in it. The proportion of dishonest students varied with year of study and those previously exposed to academic dishonesty in secondary school and males were more likely to be involved. A majority (72.6%) of t hose engaged in academic dishonesty believed that their classmates were also doing it. The leading forms of academic dishonesty were signing nominal rolls for absent friends and cheating in examinations using illegal notes and electronic access to informat ion. Co nc lusion: Aca d emic dishonesty is prevalent with the majority of those involved believing that their classmates are also into the practice. The leading forms of academic dishonesty include both traditional analog and modern digital methods.