Computer Skills and the Training of Medical Students in a Ghanaian Medical School

Abstract

The relevance of the inclusion of medical informatics into the curriculum of medical education cannot be overemphasised. The effects of medical and health informatics on health professional education are as profound and demanding of change as those on health consumers and clients. The effects reach far beyond the occasional use of computers in technology-assisted learning for health professionals. The study was conducted to ascertain the computer literacy level of medical students. A computing skills survey was administered to forty (40) second year students at the University of Cape Coast School of Medical Sciences, Ghana. The survey was conducted on the computer use, skills, and attitudes of second-year medical students. The results indicated that 89.9% of respondents had some average to advance knowledge and use of the basic computer software (windows, word, excel, PowerPoint, database, internet and email). The knowledge and use of database (62.5%) was however low as compared to the other basic software programs. Male students had a higher percentage (95.8%) as compared to female students (84.6%) with respect to knowledge and use of basic computer software. Female students, on the other hand, had a higher percentage (100%) of internet use as compared to the males with 93.4%.