%0 Journal Article
%T A survey of the use of electronic scientific information resources among medical and dental students
%A Kalle Romanov
%A Matti Aarnio
%J BMC Medical Education
%D 2006
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1472-6920-6-28
%X A web survey sent to 837 students (49.9% responded).Twenty-four per cent of medical students and ninteen per cent of dental students searched MEDLINE 2+ times/month for study purposes, and thiry-two per cent and twenty-four per cent respectively for research. Full-text articles were used 2+ times/month by thirty-three per cent of medical and ten per cent of dental students. Twelve per cent of respondents never utilized either MEDLINE or full-text articles. In multivariate models, the information-searching skills among students were significantly associated with use of MEDLINE and full-text articles.Use of electronic resources differs among students. Forty percent were non-users of full-text articles. Information-searching skills are correlated with the use of electronic resources, but the level of basic PC skills plays not a major role in using these resources. The student data shows that adequate training in information-searching skills will increase the use of electronic information resources.Over the last several decades studies have shown that the use of computerized information systems by medical professionals can improve the quality of care, enhance the use of evidence-based treatments, and maintain and update knowledge [1,2]. It has also been shown that even though doctors generate various questions during patient care [3], many of these questions remain unanswered because physicians typically search answers to only one third of the questions [4]. MEDLINE, especially, is often considered too demanding to be searched effectively in clinical settings, but there may be solutions available for improving its usability. In recent studies of doctors' use of online evidence, it has been reported that over 80% of practitioners studied believed that the use of electronic information resources has the potential to improve patient care [5,6].One of the major goals of medical education is to encourage students to maintain their knowledge of medical science by becoming lif
%U http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6920/6/28