What information resources do medical students use?
N.B. The information below is authored by the mini-project applicants, not by staff of MEDEV. This text represents the views and opinions of the mini-project team only, not those of the subject centre or its affiliates.
Principal investigator
Sarah Louise Edwards,Full list of project partners
Co-applicants Dr. Karen Mattick karen.mattick@pms.ac.uk Peninsula Medical School, University of Exeter
Description
To characterise the information resources used by undergraduate medical students, and to explore the decision-making processes underpinning their information seeking activities.
Objectives
1. To understand what resources medical students use, and when;
2. To understand why students use the resources that they do;
3. To see if medical students use evidence-based resources and understand the importance of evidence-based resources.
Background/Rationale
An understanding of evidence-based medicine (EBM) and how to implement it into clinical practice is an important skill medical students need to understand and develop throughout their undergraduate education. But how do medical students decide which resources to utilise? There are a plethora of resources available including journals, textbooks, NHS resources, medical school resources, applications for phones, and even social networking sites. This brings about a challenge to medical students, not only to decide which resources they like, but in critically appraising the information they provide. A recent study explored clinicians decisions to access medical-information resources however there has been little or no research to date exploring the information-seeking behaviour of medical students(1). By understanding the information seeking behaviours of students, it is possible to evaluate whether these will be successful for them in future clinical practice.
Methodology
This study uses the same methodology as a recent study of the information resource use of clinicians(1). Stimulated recall is an introspection procedure in which passages of behaviour of individuals are used to stimulate recall of their decision-making(2). This study uses a stimulated recall technique, using a self-report diary to stimulate recall within an interview. Each participant will be requested to keep a self-report diary of the resources they use over the period of a week. Once the self-report diary has been completed, an interview is held with the participant. The interview would be based on stimulated recall using the stimuli to answer questions like “Can you relive the decision making process leading up to accessing the resource?”, “How did you make the decision?”. The study will involve 20-30 undergraduate medical students at Peninsula Medical School. Students will be recruited via email, informing them of intended research and asking for their involvement.
Activities:
The estimated time for completion of this project is 1 year. The identical study performed with clinicians took 8 months to complete but the research ethics committee approval may take longer since this project involves medical students.
January/February 2011 – Ethics enquiries and submission.
March 2011 – Participant recruitment.
April/May/June/July August 2011 – Data collection with the assistance of KM and NB.
September/October 2011 – Data analysis with KM and NB.
October /November/December 2011- Syntheses of findings, writing of paper and dissemination with assistance of KM and NB.
Value for Money:
The project offers value for money because it uses a methodology that has been proven to work in this setting and by these applicants. This study provides added value due to the comparison it enables between qualified clinicians and medical students.
The staff costs also represent good value. As an undergraduate medical student, SE will give her time for free to organize, recruit, collate and write the results up.
The Peninsula Medical School’s Institute of Clinical Education will provide access to its research infrastructure, including advice and equipment (e.g. recording equipment). KM and NB will oversee and participate in the data collection, data analysis and project write-up. SE, KM and NB have worked together in the past year on other shared projects.
[1] Mattick K, Brennan N, Miller A. Final Report:How are information resources used within evidence-based clinical practice? Peninsula Medical School, 2010.
[2] Lyle J. Stimulated recall: a report on its use in naturalistic research. British Educational Research Journal. 2003;29:861-878.
Activities
Partner stuff - Is a Senior Lecturer in Clinical Education. She is actively involved in curriculum design and development and is the academic lead for pathology and eLearning at Peninsula Medical School. Karen holds an MSc in Education Research (2004) and a National Teaching Fellowship (2005). The latter is funding a project exploring the contribution that science knowledge makes to decision-making (50K). Karen has completed two education based HEA funded mini-projects (7K in total). Karen was the PI on a recent study exploring how information resources are used within evidence-based clinical practice. Karen is a co-applicant on this project, and will also have a supervisory role and conduct some interviews. Dr. Nicola Brennan (NB), Nicola.Brennan@pms.ac.uk, Peninsula Medical School, University of Plymouth Is a Research Fellow in Literature Reviews at PMS. Her role is to provide expert support in literature and systematic reviews for the research hubs within ICE. Nicola was the lead researcher on a recent study exploring how information resources are used within evidence-based clinical practice. Nicola was responsible for coordinating the study, conducting the interviews, analysing the data and writing the final report. Nicola is a co-applicant on this project, and will also have a supervisory role and conduct some interviews.
Aimed at
There are two main audiences:
1) All those involved in medical education curriculum development or delivery
2) All those developing or promoting information resources
In addition, individual students will benefit from an insight into what their peers are using and why.
Outcomes
This study will deliver the following to the target audience:
Curriculum developers and deliverers: Will gain insight into the resources used by students and the factors influencing their decisions. This will enable them to either try to change student behaviours through educational activities, and / or modify the curriculum to take account of these activities.
Students: All resources used and discovered in this study will be disseminated through the Peninsula Medical School managed learning environment, social networking sites and by electronic mail to share ideas and resources.
Those developing or promoting information resources: Will be able to see the resources used by students and develop / recommend improved resources due to an understanding of the needs of the students.
For those with a broad interest in undergraduate education: A better understanding of the decision-making processes of students and the resources they use.
On completion of this project the following outputs will be available:
• A set of anonymised self-report diaries for the participants, showing their information resource use.
• A set of anonymised transcripts for the participants, upon request.
• A final report, including a comparison of this study’s findings and the previous one that used the same methodology but explored clinician’s use of resources (discussed below).
• A peer-reviewed publication, which will be submitted to Medical Education or Medical Teacher.
• An improved understanding of the resources used by students and why they use them.
• An improved understanding of research development for a novice in research who could use her experience to produce a document for MEDEV and provide information to other medical students. For example: a newsletter article for MEDEV, an article in the Student BMJ explaining how MEDEV generously helped SE get involved in research and potentially attract other students into the field of research.
• A presentation for MEDEV at a conference explaining SE’s experience of research.
Personal experience
I am a final year medical student, with an interest in research and medical education. As part of my fourth year at the Peninsula Medical School (PMS), I undertook 2 special study units (SSU) in research and medical education. The research SSU involved the theoretical design and development of a research project examining the epidemiology of type 1 diabetes. I undertook this project as part of a small team and it was accepted as a poster presentation for the Diabetes UK conference in 2010. The medical education SSU gave me the opportunity to learn more about the theories behind education. My project looked at the use of Mind Mapping in Medical Education, which has been accepted for publication in The Clinical Teacher, titled “ Mind Mapping as a Teaching Resource”. I have also been involved within the Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry’s Institute of Clinical Education (ICE) as a student member. The ICE is involved in different aspects of educational research. I have been involved as an equal partner in recent systematic review on “What science medical students need to know”, which was well received as a short communication at the Association for the Study of Medical Education Europe (AMEE). The review is currently in preparation for submission to the British Medical Journal (BMJ). Being involved as part of a research department and team has been a tremendous learning experience, and given me a desire to learn more about how to undertake a research project.
Ethical approval
Ethical approval will be required as the proposed work involves medical students. The ethical approval will be submitted in January 2011 to the Research Ethics Committee at Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry.
Other work
A similar study was conducted by Dr. Karen Mattick, Dr. Nicola Brennan and Dr. Alice Miller titled “How are information resources used within evidence-based clinical practice?”. This work was funded by the SW Strategic Health Authority and the final report was submitted in September 2010. The work will be submitted for publication in October 2010. A copy of the final report is available from Dr. Karen Mattick, contact details are above.
Outcomes
This study will deliver the following to the target audience:
Curriculum developers and deliverers: Will gain insight into the resources used by students and the factors influencing their decisions. This will enable them to either try to change student behaviours through educational activities, and / or modify the curriculum to take account of these activities.
Students: All resources used and discovered in this study will be disseminated through the Peninsula Medical School managed learning environment, social networking sites and by electronic mail to share ideas and resources.
Those developing or promoting information resources: Will be able to see the resources used by students and develop / recommend improved resources due to an understanding of the needs of the students.
For those with a broad interest in undergraduate education: A better understanding of the decision-making processes of students and the resources they use.
On completion of this project the following outputs will be available:
• A set of anonymised self-report diaries for the participants, showing their information resource use.
• A set of anonymised transcripts for the participants, upon request.
• A final report, including a comparison of this study’s findings and the previous one that used the same methodology but explored clinician’s use of resources (discussed below).
• A peer-reviewed publication, which will be submitted to Medical Education or Medical Teacher.
• An improved understanding of the resources used by students and why they use them.
• An improved understanding of research development for a novice in research who could use her experience to produce a document for MEDEV and provide information to other medical students. For example: a newsletter article for MEDEV, an article in the Student BMJ explaining how MEDEV generously helped SE get involved in research and potentially attract other students into the field of research.
• A presentation for MEDEV at a conference explaining SE’s experience of research.
Student involvement
This project is being lead by a final year medical student (SE) who has an interest in medical education and research. This will help SE’s learning by improving her understanding of research, including the development of a project, the undertaking of it, followed by a good quality publication. The experience gained by this will aid a future career in Medical Education and Research.
The project deliverables will benefit the student population as a whole, directly through an insight into the resources that their peers are accessing, and indirectly through the changes to curricula that will result.
Impact dissemination
A similar study was conducted by Dr. Karen Mattick, Dr. Nicola Brennan and Dr. Alice Miller titled “How are information resources used within evidence-based clinical practice?”. This work was funded by the SW Strategic Health Authority and the final report was submitted in September 2010. The work will be submitted for publication in October 2010. A copy of the final report is available from Dr. Karen Mattick, contact details are above.
Contact details
Amount awarded: £4,978.00
MEDEV project contact: Suzanne Hardy
This proposal was funded under the Joint miniprojects with Health Sciences & Practice 2010 call
Reports and resources
