Assessing computer skills and attitudes towards electronic learning and internet use in a sample of third year medical students of Baghdad Medical College-Iraq

Abstract EN

Introduction : medical schools and medical education look different as we advance into the 21st century.

The call for medical students to become literate in the uses of information technology has become a familiar reform.

Teaching medical students to be computer-literate will not only enable them to use information technology competently, but will foster their ability to assess the adequacy of one's knowledge and to direct one's ongoing learning well in a rapidly changing world.

Methods: A cross sectional study on a convenient sample 124 third year medical students in.

A specially designed semi-structured questionnaire was used.

The instrument gathered data about : availability of personal computer, sources of computer knowledge, purposes of current computer and internet usage, type of computer software with basic knowledge and attitude towards computer.

The questionnaire format was self-administered.

Results : A small proportion of students (7.3 %) had no PC (personal computer) at home.

The most important source of computer knowledge reported was self-learning and peer assistance (66.1 % and 17.7% respectively).

Basic knowledge in email client programs was the most frequently reported computer software (52.4 %).

Word processor and web browser programs ranked second in basic knowledge (46 % and 42.7 %o respectively).

The majority of subjects (87.1 %) use the internet.

Using the internet for medical education was reported in less than two fifths of students.

Only 13.7 % perceived computers as an indispensable tool for medical education.

Conclusion : Third year medical students in the oldest Iraqi medical college have not fully utilized the opportunity associated with the use of computer and internet for medical education.

Expansion of computer-assisted learning requires careful strategic planning after obtaining the results of computer literacy survey.