Disciplinary-based information literacy skills among medical students

Sirous Panahi; Abbas Mirzaei; Azam Bazrafshan

doi:10.4103/jehp.jehp_139_20

Disciplinary-based information literacy skills among medical students

J Educ Health Promot. 2020 Jul 28:9:172. doi: 10.4103/jehp.jehp_139_20. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Sirous Panahi^{1

2}, Abbas Mirzaei¹, Azam Bazrafshan¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Medical Library and Information Science, School of Health Management and Information Sciences, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
² Health Management and Economics Research Center, School of Health Management and Information Sciences, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

Introduction: Disciplinary-based information literacy (DIL) or professional-related information literacy has not been widely studied in the academic context, including medical sciences. This study aimed at investigating the status of DIL among medical students in an Iranian medical university.

Materials and methods: This study was a cross-sectional survey. A random sample consisting of 298 students majoring in general medicine at Tehran University of Medical Science, Tehran, Iran, in the academic year of 2018-2019 completed a valid and reliable 20-item questionnaire on DIL. Data were analyzed using SPSS statistical software.

Results: Participants' DIL was less than expected, especially in the skills related to professional information access and evaluation. The majority of them had low DIL level. However, medical students in their last 2 years of study had significantly high scores in DIL than those in their first 2 years of study.

Conclusion: Information literacy has not been seriously considered in health-related higher education in Iran. It is needed to consider DIL in the medical curriculum for training students to be proficient specialists in medical practice.

Keywords: Disciplinary-based information literacy; Iran; Tehran University of Medical Sciences; information literacy; medical students.