Use of Web Resources Among Medical Students at a Large Urban Medical Center

INTRODUCTION: The Internet has become an important source of information for medical students. Benefits include the ease in gathering information, the ability to work from any location, and the diversity of resources provided. The objective of the study is to survey third-year students regarding their use of web-based resources. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was performed using an 11-question survey. Third-year medical students rotating in the obstetrics–gynecology clerkship at SUNY Downstate Medical Center were sent an e-mail with a link to complete a survey on the Internet. Two reminder e-mails were also sent. RESULTS: Of 58 students, 60.3% (35) completed the evaluation. Age distribution was from 22 to 31 years with the mean age being 24 years old. Participants were mainly either Asian or white (40% and 34.2%, respectively) with 88.5% having at least a Bachelor's degree. Students used web resources most frequently for information regarding medications (29%) and screening and diagnostic criteria (25%). The top three resources used are UpToDate, Wikipedia, and Google (94.2%, 82.8%, and 77.1%, respectively). Students use these resources at least two times a week with 94.2% rating these at least a 4 for trustworthiness on a 5-point Likert scale. In comparison, only 20% of students stated they used textbooks as a primary resource. CONCLUSION: The majority of students use web resources, specifically academic databases, over textbooks as their primary source material. Development of future coursework should take advantage of this and use existing information already available on the Internet when designing curricula.