Medical Department VI/Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
Medical Informatics, Medical Education Unit, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman.
Sultan Qaboos Univ Med J. 2022 Aug;22(3):362-369. doi: 10.18295/squmj.8.2021.114. Epub 2022 Aug 25.
This study aimed to discover the extent to which medical students can evaluate medical websites, evaluation criteria used, factors affecting their abilities and whether a teaching intervention could rectify problems. Medical students and practitioners are required to evaluate medical information available on the Internet. Most current medical students are familiar with the Internet, but their ability to evaluate material may require improvement.
A class of undergraduate medical students evaluated an unreliable medical website, received a teaching intervention on website evaluation criteria and re-evaluated the same site. This mixed-methods study was conducted at Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman, from September to December 2018.
A total of 149 (response rate: 82.3%) students participated. Students spent, on average, 4.69 hours per day on the Internet. No significant correlations were found between demographic indicators and Internet time. On a 10-point Likert scale, students' scores ranged from 5-6, with no significant differences between the pre- and post-intervention evaluations, except for increased polarisation away from the mean. Qualitative comments indicated an awareness of relevant criteria but an overall inability to critically apply them.
The results indicate that one cannot make a blanket statement about medical students' ability to evaluate medical websites despite their familiarity with technology. Moreover, website evaluation should be viewed primarily from the information perspective and that critical thinking ability may play a major role. Due to these overriding factors, short interventions are unlikely to have an impact, and other educational strategies should be developed. These are necessary to ensure that medical students can function independently as life-long learners and medical professionals.
本研究旨在探讨医学生评估医学网站的程度、使用的评估标准、影响其能力的因素，以及教学干预是否可以纠正问题。医学生和医生都需要评估互联网上提供的医学信息。大多数医学生都熟悉互联网，但他们评估材料的能力可能需要提高。
一个本科医学生班评估了一个不可靠的医学网站，接受了关于网站评估标准的教学干预，然后重新评估了同一个网站。这项混合方法研究于 2018 年 9 月至 12 月在阿曼的苏丹卡布斯大学进行。
共有 149 名（应答率：82.3%）学生参加。学生平均每天花在互联网上的时间为 4.69 小时。人口统计学指标与上网时间之间没有显著相关性。在 10 分制的李克特量表中，学生的分数在 5-6 分之间，干预前后的评估没有显著差异，除了平均值的极化程度增加。定性评论表明，学生意识到了相关标准，但总体上无法批判性地应用这些标准。
尽管医学生对技术很熟悉，但不能一概而论地说他们有能力评估医学网站。此外，网站评估应主要从信息角度出发，批判性思维能力可能起着重要作用。由于这些因素的影响，短期干预不太可能产生影响，应该开发其他教育策略。这些策略是确保医学生能够作为终身学习者和医疗专业人员独立运作所必需的。
