Skills and Practices of Final Year students using

Laptops in Services Institute of Medical Sciences

February, 2017

Ali Humza
SERVICES INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL SCIENCES, LAHORE
 Skills and Practices of Final Year students
using Laptops in Services Institute of Medical
Sciences, Lahore

Author: Ali Humza

Supervised by: Dr. Muhammad Ashraf Majrooh

February 2017

DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY MEDICINE

Services Institute of Medical Sciences, Lahore

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1 INTRODUCTION
The twentieth century was a revolutionary period in the field of computer science.
Today, in twenty fist century information technology and computers represent an
essential part of every sphere of human life, especially in process of education. (1) In
past decades use of computer and internet has increased among college students (2) and
in medical students it is increasing. Today’s students in medical school have lived in
the omnipresence of online technology in their whole lives. They prefer new media
technologies and online learning. Their technology-integrated lives create new ways of
learning. (3) The multimedia is cost-effective, fast and has the advantage of assessing
information from any source. (4) In the era of information and computer technology
scenario of health and medical education has changed with the availability of medical
literature on internet. All the fields of medical and allied sciences require adequate
computer skills. In order to improve quality of health care, information processing and
information technology is essential in this modern world. This helps the students to
acquire the knowledge of medical science as well as recent advances in their respective
field. (2) (4) (5)

The Association of American Medical Colleges’ (AAMC) states that "to practice
medicine in the twenty first century, medical students must be given a strong grounding
in the use of computer technology to manage information, support patient care
(6)
decisions, select treatments, and develop their abilities as lifelong learners".
Computer is one of the most important source of communicating information
effectively. The laptops and other digital media is being used for medical education in
diverse ways including teaching, diagnosis, and conduct of medical examinations. (7) (8)
(9) (9)
It is an important source of information for medical research. This mode of
education has several advantages over traditional method of instruction, the
convenience of taking a course at a time that fits students schedule and at a place that
they did not have to commute to attend. Internet videoconferencing offers real-time
interactive classroom online. The information available on the Internet can overwhelm
the students who lack the skills for verifying the quality of information available online.
(7)
While several researches have explored the use of computers and information
technology by medical students, few of such studies are currently available in Pakistan.
The aim of this study is to assess the level of computer and Internet use amongst final

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year MBBS students studying in Services Institute of Medical Sciences, Lahore
Pakistan.

2 OBJECTIVES
The main objective of this study is to find the computer and internet infrastructure
available, computer skills, current trend of using e-learning modalities among
undergraduate students of Services Institute of Medical Sciences in Lahore, Pakistan.
The methodology of the research will include an online questionnaire to be filled out
by the final year undergraduate and postgraduate students at Services Institute of
Medical Sciences, Lahore. The questionnaire will be set so as to examine the attitudes
and experiences about different modalities of e-learning, as well as attitudes about e-
learning usage in medical curriculum apart from the computer and Internet
infrastructure.

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3 REFERENCES
1. Masic I, Karcic E, Hodzic A, Mulic S. Information Technologies in Education of Medical
Students at the University of Sarajevo. s.l. : Acta Inform Med., 2014.
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medical, dental and pharmacy students of Karachi. Pakistan : Journal of pharmaceutical and
biomedical sciences, 2013.
3. Han H, Nelson E, Wetter N. Medical students’ online learning technology needs. s.l. :
The Clinical Teacher, 2014.
4. Ayatollahi A, Ayatollahi J, Ayatollahi F, Ayatollahi R, Shahcheraghi SH. Computer
and Internet use among Undergraduate Medical Students in Iran. s.l. : Pak J Med Sci., 2014.
5. Samuel M, Coombes JC, Miranda JJ, Melvin R, Young EJW, Azarmina P. Assessing
computer skills in Tanzanian medical students: an elective experience. s.l. : BMC Public
Health, 2004.
6. Swanson AG, Anderson MB. Educating medical students: assessing change in medical
education-the road to implementation, . s.l. : Acad MED , 2006.
7. Jones RB, Navin LM, Barrie J, Hillan E, Kinane D. Computer literacy among medical,
nursing, dental and veterinary undergraduates. s.l. : Med Educ, 2009.
8. I, Mansor. Computer skills among medical students: a survey at the King Abdul Aziz
University, Jeddah. Jeddah : Ayub Med Coll 2002, 2002.
9. Virtanen JI, Nieminen P. Information and communication technology among
undergraduate dental students in Finland. s.l. : Eur J Dent Edu , 2002.