Information-Seeking Behaviors of Medical Students: A Cross-Sectional Web-Based Survey

Abstract

BackgroundMedical students face an information-rich environment in which retrieval and appraisal strategies are increasingly important.ObjectiveTo describe medical students’ current pattern of health information resource use and characterize their experience of instruction on information search and appraisal.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional web-based survey of students registered in the four-year MD Program at Dalhousie University (Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Saint John, New Brunswick, sites), Canada. We collected self-reported data on information-seeking behavior, instruction, and evaluation of resources in the context of their medical education. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics.ResultsSurveys were returned by 213 of 462 eligible students (46.1%). Most respondents (165/204, 80.9%) recalled receiving formal instruction regarding information searches, but this seldom included nontraditional tools such as Google (23/107, 11.1%), Wikipedia, or social media. In their daily practice, however, they reported heavy use of these tools, as well as EBM summaries. Accessibility, understandability, and overall usefulness were common features of highly used resources. Students identified challenges managing information and/or resource overload and source accessibility.ConclusionsMedical students receive instruction primarily on searching and assessing primary medical literature. In their daily practice, however, they rely heavily on nontraditional tools as well as EBM summaries. Attention to appropriate use and appraisal of nontraditional sources might enhance the current EBM curriculum.

Use of Internet Health Information Among Students in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…Our study included students from different educational levels ranging from high school to post-graduate students. The vast majority of previous studies on use of internet as a health information source among students included under-graduate university students (Osei Asibey, Agyemang, & Boakye Dankwah, 2017;Albarrak, 2016;O'Carroll, 2015;Aldebasi & Ahmed, 2013;Horgan & Sweeney, 2012;Mahmood et al, 2016;Percheski & Hargittai, 2011). Educational level of students might play a central role on health information seeking behavior.…”

“…Most young adults are able to search electronic sources for health information and to use these for decision making (Stellefson et al, 2011;Stellefeson et al, 2012;Britt et al, 2017;Bakarman, 2017), and internet is becoming a major source of health information for the new generation (Tao, 2017). Several studies examined students' online habits and their use of internet as a source for health information (Osei Asibey, Agyemang, & Boakye Dankwah, 2017;Albarrak et al, 2016;O'Carroll, 2015;Aldebasi & Ahmed, 2013;Schwartz, 2016;Horgan & Sweeney, 2012;Percheski, 2011;Bensley et al, 2014). A cross-sectional study conducted in 3 universities in Ghana and included 650 students (Osei Asibey, Agyemang, & Boakye Dankwah, 2017), reported that 67.7% of the students used the internet for health purposes.…”

“…Female students used internet health information to modify their lifestyle significantly more than male students (Albarak, 2016). A web-based survey of 213 medical students in Halifax, Canada, showed that most of the participants used Google on a daily basis and that Wikipedia and UpToDate were also commonly used (O'Carroll, 2015). A study conducted in four medical colleges in Qassim University, Saudi Arabia, enrolled 500 students (Aldebasi & Ahmed, 2013).…”

Utilization of internet by undergraduate medical students

“…[14] The study by Carroll students cited UpToDate, Google and Wikipedia were most cited resources by medical students for highly for their accessibility, understandability, and usefulness. [18] There is need to train students for fruitful use of internet.…”

Medical Students’ Clinical Reasoning During a Simulated Viral Pandemic: Evidence of Cognitive Integration and Insights on Novices’ Approach to Diagnostic Reasoning

“…Focus group findings from their study suggested potential reasons for these source usage patterns related to students' familiarity with Google and their inability to assess the relative efficacy of online decision-support resources [36]. More recent studies have shown similar findings, with Google, Wikipedia, and social media being the information-seeking resources most frequently used by contemporary medical students, whereas online journals, scholarly databases, and medical texts are accessed relatively infrequently [37][38][39]. Features such as ease of use and efficiency of access appear to heavily influence today's medical students' choices of such resources [39][40][41].…”