engleski

Use of internet resources on health information by medical students and students of Information Systems

This paper theoretically analyses the recent trends in Internet use for collection and exchange of health information. Various information sources (online journals, medical databases and portals, college and hospital web sites, non-governmental organizations, homepages of scholars or health practitioners, online communication tools and social software like wikies and weblogs, etc.) can be used to collect personally relevant health information, search health information for others, locate health information for education and clinical purpose, browse health information sources for curiosity reason (“ surf” ), and exchange health related information via online forums, weblogs, wikies etc. A survey was performed among medical students and students of information systems regarding their level of information literacy, use of various types of online resources and communication tools for general purpose, as well as health related online searches and information exchange that they perform over the Internet. While medical students may have a special (educational) interest in online health information, their level of ICT/Internet skills is lower than that of information systems students. On the other hand, information systems students have a high level of ICT/Internet skills, but only personal (not education related) interest in health information. These two groups of students were compared regarding their use of various online resources and tools to collect and exchange health information, as well in relation to the type of information they were seeking online and for what purpose. Conclusions were drawn regarding the use of online resources by medical students and their education in ICT skills needed to effectively use the Internet for collection, exchange and presentation of health information.

health information; Internet; information seeking; medical students

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