Students online: learning medical genetics.

It is possible to focus medical genetics education by using a model that integrates the skills of end-user searching of the medical literature into the traditional course content. Since 1988, 313 first-year medical students were studied as they accessed MEDLINE to retrieve information about biochemical genetic disorders. Their search behavior was studied by analyzing data from the National Library of Medicine's traffic files. The skills that they initially learned were reinforced as they searched clinical genetics problem cases in the second-year pathology course, and these skills were consolidated in the third year when the students addressed specific patient-care questions in pediatrics. The students' perception of the value of this model was studied by analyzing questionnaires completed during the exercise. It was demonstrated that when students were taught the skills of accessing MEDLINE by computer, they could formulate a question, retrieve current information, critically review relevant articles, communicate effectively, and use these skills to contribute to patient care.