When
students attending the American Medical Student Association Annual Convention
& Exposition in February 2017 were asked to rank their preferred sources of
medical information, textbooks was not the first choice for most. Or even the
second choice.
About
47% of med students said they turn to Google for answers to their questions,
while 32% named medical websites. Only 7% indicated they would look in their
medical textbooks first before resorting to other sources.
The
survey, conducted by Merck Manuals, a reference publisher for physicians and
pharmacists, did involve a fairly small sample of 180 students, which included
some in premedical programs as well as med-school enrollees. However, nearly
all of the students agreed that growing up with access to digital technologies
has shaped how they learn and gather information.
