Evaluation of the Microsoft office familiarity of the medical students of Hormozgan Medical University in 2006

The ability to access, evaluate and use information in each profession is one of the most effective materials of individual success. Accessing updated medical information is vital for physicians (1-5). In a descriptive cross sectional study performed in Bandar Abbas, the capital city of Hormozgan province in the southern part of Iran. Data the internet and computer usage was examined among medical students. All of the medical students were included in our study. Students who didn’t agree to participate in our study were excluded. Data was collected using a questionnaire that contained demographic information and 21 questions regarding internet and computer usage. The usage of internet, word, powerpoint, excel, outlook and access was assessed by multiple choice question (always, often, sometimes, never). Each answer received 0 to 3 points and for each student the summed score was assumed. The data was entered in SPSS 13 software and the descriptive statistics were used for data analysis. Out of 118 students, 88 (74.5%) were female. Among all of them, 83% had personal computer (PC) and 80.5% used internet sometimes or never. Their internet usage was less than an hour in each day in 43.2% of the students and 18.6% of them never used internet. The most visited websites were entertainment (49%), Email (45.8%) and medical websites (44.8%). Among all the students, 41.9% were using internet in their home and university and 40.2% were using internet only in university. Also 17.9% of the medical students stated that the computer classes aren’t useful. About 36.8% of the students evaluated it as slightly useful and 43.6% of them reported that the equipment of internet centers of the university were well. About 68.3% reported that these equipments aren’t enough in the dormitory. Students frequently reported shortages in the number of the computers in the centers (62.7%). Most of the shortage of the facilities of the university was the speed of the internet (42.5%) and the number of the educational classes (40.7%). There was no statistically significant relationship between age and sex and the internet usage among medical students. However students who had a personal computer (PC) used the internet more frequently (P<0.05). Although the internet and computer software are introduced to the medical students in an acceptable level, the usage of the internet among them was low. Also they used internet mostly for entertainment websites and Email. Medical information resources were in the next rank. Most students used the internet in the university, thus it is highly recommended to increase the number of the computers in the internet center and to hold educational classes to teach them ways to use medical database information.