Developing Internet research skills in prospective medical students.

摘要

Context and setting Many medical schools in the UK have adopted 'Widening Participation' (WP) schemes in an attempt to diversify the range of students applying for medicine. These schemes target under-represented groups who are disadvantaged by limited opportunities and resources. Four Year 3 medical students designed an online activity to be used at a WP summer school for 15-16-year-olds from under-represented groups who were considering a medical career. Why the idea was necessary Students require many key skills if they are to study medicine efficiently. The use of information technology (IT) and the Internet is increasingly important: the current transition of medical journals from paper to electronic forms means that the Internet is now established as the primary resource for medical research. Another key skill concerns developing the capacity to become an independent learner. This involves 2 types of skill, the first of which concerns the ability to locate relevant sources, whereas the second involves the ability to interpret, assess and evaluate the validity of this information. Students must be able to exploit these skills in order to be successful in medicine and beyond. Our online activity focused on locating and interpreting relevant information on the Internet. What was done An online research activity was created by our team to be used as part of a WP summer school at Leeds University. Teaching on the day was based around a central case study that encompassed many aspects of medicine, such as diagnosis, treatment and social factors. From this case study, 5 pertinent medical topics were selected (pneumonia, painkillers, wound management, keyhole and conventional surgery, and abuse of elderly people) upon which we formulated our activity. The teaching material consisted of a double-sided A4 question-sheet for each topic. The activity was designed to improve the Internet research skills of the students, rather than to test their intellectual ability. With this in mind, the students were posed questions to which they were unlikely to know the answers, but which they could find out using the Internet. Websites verified as reliable were promoted by the incorporation of 'Top Tips' suggesting possible sources of information. The sheets used varied questioning techniques to guide the students through the clinical scenarios in an appropriate sequence, building on newly acquired knowledge where possible. A set of teaching instructions was produced to allow replication of the exercise by other teachers in the future.