Sanober Masood, Rana Akhtar Khan, Gulfreen Waheed.
Computer literacy among the medical staff at Avicenna Medical College and Hospital.
Pak J Med Health Sci Jan ;4(3):294-294.

Objective: The present study aimed to explore the computer literacy among the medical staff and after the results make recommendations and suggestions to improve. Study design: Cross sectional Purpose of study: To assess the computer knowledge of among medical staff of Avicenna Medical college and hospital Study place: Avicenna medical college and teaching hospital at phase 1X defense Lahore cant. Study duration: May- August2010 Methodology: It is a cross-sectional survey, carried out by the department of community medicine, at Avicenna medical college and hospital. The staff in study was professors, associate professors, assistant professor, senior demonstrators and demonstrators. A questionnaire was made about the computer literacy and distributed to the staff. The staff filled up and returned it to the department. Results were made after the studying of these questionnaires. Results: Forty (40) questionnaires were distributed to the medical staff.0nly 32[80%] responded back. Six [19%] were professors and fourteen [44%] were assistant professor, three [9%] were the senior demonstrators and only nine [28%] were the demonstrators. The survey responses reflected the opinions of the hospital medical faculty with a broad range of practice experience in their own specific specialty fields. Most respondents had home access to personal computers, and regularly used computers in the work environment for drug distribution, information management, and communication purposes. Software use experience varied according to application. Although getting general information on net about patient-care information software and e-mail were commonly used, experience with spreadsheet, statistical, and presentation software was negligible. The respondents were familiar with Internet search engines, and these were reported to be the most common method of seeking clinical information online. Although many respondents rated they as being generally computer literate and not particularly anxious about using computers, the majority believed they required more training to reach their desired level of computer literacy. Lack of familiarity with computer-related terms was prevalent. Self-reported basic computer skill was typically at a moderate level, and varied depending on the task. Specifically, respondents rated their ability to manipulate files, use software help features, and install software as low, but rated their ability to access and navigate the Internet as high. Conclusions: Most doctors believed they needed to upgrade their computer skills. Medical database and Internet searching skills were identified as those in greatest need of improvement for the purposes of improving practice effectiveness.

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