A survey of the computer literacy of undergraduate dental students at a University Dental School in Ireland during the academic year 1997–98

Abstract

As dental practice management becomes more computer-based, the efficient functioning of the dentist will become dependent on adequate computer literacy. A survey has been carried out into the computer literacy of a cohort of 140 undergraduate dental students at a University Dental School in Ireland (years 1-5), in the academic year 1997-98. Aspects investigated by anonymous questionnaire were: (1) keyboard skills; (2) computer skills; (3) access to computer facilities; (4) software competencies and (5) use of medical library computer facilities. The students are relatively unfamiliar with basic computer hardware and software: 51.1% considered their expertise with computers as "poor"; 34.3% had taken a formal typewriting or computer keyboarding course; 7.9% had taken a formal computer course at university level and 67.2% were without access to computer facilities at their term-time residences. A majority of students had never used either word-processing, spreadsheet, or graphics programs. Programs relating to "informatics" were more popular, such as literature searching, accessing the Internet and the use of e-mail which represent the major use of the computers in the medical library. The lack of experience with computers may be addressed by including suitable computing courses at the secondary level (age 13-18 years) and/or tertiary level (FE/HE) education programmes. Such training may promote greater use of generic softwares, particularly in the library, with a more electronic-based approach to data handling.

On the use and value of new media and how medical students assess their effectiveness in learning anatomy

“…Significant differences may be observed with regard to e‐mail use (several times a week): 62.9 psva in this survey used e‐mail: 53 psva in Wilton, Ireland, in 1998 (Ray and Hannigan, 1999), more than 54 psva in Berne in 1999 (Frey and Hofer, 1999); 93.6 psva in Finland in 2000 (Virtanen and Nieminen, 2002), about 54% of psva at the University of Illinois in 1996, rising to 84% in 1997 (Hollander, 1999). E‐mail use by medical students increased from 43% in 1991 to 100% in 2002 at the Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia (Seago et al, 2002).…”

“…Computer skills of medical students at the University of Chicago were reported as being 91/92% sufficient in 1996/1997 (Hollander, 1999), whereas results of a 1996 survey of British dental students show that only 77 psva assessed themselves as competent in some basic computer skills or as unable/beginners. In a survey made after a computer‐assisted learning room was opened at this university in 1997, 66.7 psva still placed themselves in the latter group (Grigg and Stephens, 1999), while in 1997/1998, 51.1 psva of a university dental school in Ireland considered their expertise with computers as poor (Ray and Hannigan, 1999). The analysis of a decade of data collection at a U.S. medical school confirms the students' increasing computer skills over the study period.…”

“…A European survey of dental schools conducted in 1999 demonstrates considerable differences between countries, indicating that approximately 35 psva use a PC at university facilities only, whereas 65 psva use it at also at home, which implies computer ownership by about 65 psva (range: 85 for Madrid, Spain, to 33 for Dublin, Ireland) (Mattheos et al, 2002). Furthermore, data obtained by an Irish study in 1998 show an apparent difference in students' access to computer facilities between their term time residence (31 psva) and at home (55 psva) (Ray and Hannigan, 1999).…”

“…At the University of Bern, 51.5% of medical students had a private Web connection in 1999 (Frey and Hofer, 1999). A difference in Internet access was again noted between home residence (20 psva) and term time residence (15 psva) (Ray and Hannigan, 1999). The use of the Internet for academic purposes increased similarly: 59.9 in our survey, 37 psva at the Dental School of Oulu University (Virtanen and Nieminen, 2002), and 18 psva at the University of Bern (Frey and Hofer, 1999).…”

Computer skills among trainee doctors

“…The addition of an IT skills course could be beneficial to trainee doctors not only in medical, but also in the management sector. A survey in an Irish dental hospital showed that the lack of experience with computers may be addressed by including suitable computing courses at the secondary level and tertiary level education and such training may promote greater use of generic softwares, particularly in the library, with a more electronic-based approach to data handling (Ray and Hannigan, 1999). It has also been reported that medical students who have not acquired basic computer information technology skills by the third year of undergraduate training are unlikely to do so in the final hospital-based years and hence undergraduate curricula for medical students must incorporate specific computer training (Osman and Muir, 1994).…”