Dataset Information

A day in the life of third-year medical students: using an ethnographic method to understand information seeking and use.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

The authors undertook this project to learn how third-year medical students seek and use information in the course of daily activities, especially activities conducted in clinical settings in a variety of institutions.

Methods

We recruited sixty-eight third-year undergraduate medical school students to create a mapping diary of a day that included clinical activities. We conducted semi-structured interviews based on the mapping diaries. Using content and thematic analyses of the resulting interview transcripts, we developed an ethnographic case study for each participant.

Results

In the studied sample, we identified a broad range of information resources used for personal, clinical, and educational use. Participants relied heavily on technology throughout their day, including desktop computers, smart phones, handheld tablets, and laptops. Time management was a pervasive theme in the interviews, with participants squeezing in time to study for exams wherever and whenever they could. Selection of a particular information resource or technology to use was governed largely by the convenience of using that resource or technology. When obstacles were encountered, workarounds might be sought, but in many cases, the resource or technology would be abandoned in favor of a more convenient solution. Convenience was also a consideration in choosing spaces to use for clinical duties or for study, with specific considerations of available technology, proximity to clinical areas, and security for belongings contributing to choices made.

Conclusions

Some of our results align with those of other recent studies of information use among medical students, residents, and practicing physicians. In particular, the fast-paced clinical setting favors use of information resources that are fast and easy to use. We demonstrated that the methods used are suitable to better understand clinicians' discovery and use of information.

SUBMITTER: Twiss-Brooks AB

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5234461 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

A day in the life of third-year medical students: using an ethnographic method to understand information seeking and use.

Twiss-Brooks Andrea B AB Andrade Ricardo R Bass Michelle B MB Kern Barbara B Peterson Jonna J Werner Debra A DA

Journal of the Medical Library Association : JMLA 20170101 1

<h4>Objective</h4>The authors undertook this project to learn how third-year medical students seek and use information in the course of daily activities, especially activities conducted in clinical settings in a variety of institutions.<h4>Methods</h4>We recruited sixty-eight third-year undergraduate medical school students to create a mapping diary of a day that included clinical activities. We conducted semi-structured interviews based on the mapping diaries. Using content and thematic analyse ...[more]

PMID: 28096741

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Project description:BACKGROUND:When compared with more traditional instructional methods, Game-based e-learning (GbEl) promises a higher motivation of learners by presenting contents in an interactive, rule-based and competitive way. Most recent systematic reviews and meta-analysis of studies on Game-based learning and GbEl in the medical professions have shown limited effects of these instructional methods. OBJECTIVES:To compare the effectiveness on the learning outcome of a Game-based e-learning (GbEl) instruction with a conventional script-based instruction in the teaching of phase contrast microscopy urinalysis under routine training conditions of undergraduate medical students. METHODS:A randomized controlled trial was conducted with 145 medical students in their third year of training in the Department of Urology at the University Medical Center Freiburg, Germany. 82 subjects where allocated for training with an educational adventure-game (GbEl group) and 69 subjects for conventional training with a written script-based approach (script group). Learning outcome was measured with a 34 item single choice test. Students' attitudes were collected by a questionnaire regarding fun with the training, motivation to continue the training and self-assessment of acquired knowledge. RESULTS:The students in the GbEl group achieved significantly better results in the cognitive knowledge test than the students in the script group: the mean score was 28.6 for the GbEl group and 26.0 for the script group of a total of 34.0 points with a Cohen's d effect size of 0.71 (ITT analysis). Attitudes towards the recent learning experience were significantly more positive with GbEl. Students reported to have more fun while learning with the game when compared to the script-based approach. CONCLUSIONS:Game-based e-learning is more effective than a script-based approach for the training of urinalysis in regard to cognitive learning outcome and has a high positive motivational impact on learning. Game-based e-learning can be used as an effective teaching method for self-instruction.

Dataset Information

A day in the life of third-year medical students: using an ethnographic method to understand information seeking and use.

Objective

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Publications

A day in the life of third-year medical students: using an ethnographic method to understand information seeking and use.

Similar Datasets

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