Computer literacy of medical students in Kerman University of Medical Sciences in 2003-04

The rapidly expanding use of information technology (IT) in medicine and biomedicine has changed the medical education methods, So that information literacy, the ability to use computer, is an essential skill for students. Knowing about the computer literacy level of students and the level of their interest in learning information technology help make the students to use computers and information technology better. The aim of this study was to assess the level of computer literacy amongst three classes of Kerman University's medical students. (students accepted during 1998-2000) All students accepted during 1998-2000 (180 students) were studied in this cross – sectional research. The questionnaire was used before in similar research in America. Response rate was 74%. The internal consistency of the questionnaire was computed after the gathering and was 0.86. 29.2 percent of the respondents were male and 70.8% were female. Most of them (65.6%) had personal computer, 20.8% of them had passed at least an educational class on hardware, 43.2% on software class, and 9.4% on system design and analysis before accepting to university. In total, the students got 56% of computer literacy score. The computer literacy of males was significantly higher than females (P<0.01) In order to increase the level of computer literacy among medical students, we would suggest formal inclusion of IT in undergraduate medical curriculum.