Evaluation of information literacy status among medical students at Shiraz University of Medical Sciences

Introduction: The information literacy status and the use ofinformation technology among students in the globalization age ofcourse plans are very momentous. This study aimed to evaluate theinformation literacy status and use of information technology amongmedical students of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences in 2013.Methods: This was a descriptive-analytical study with crosssectionalmethod. The study population consisted of all medicalstudents (physiopathology, externship and internship) studyingat Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. The sample size(n=310) was selected by systematic random sampling. Thetool of data gathering was LASSI questionnaire (assigned byAmerica research association) with 48 closed items in five-pointLIKERT scale. The questionnaire included two distinct parts ofdemographic questions and the information literacy skills basedon the standards of information literacy capacities for academiceducation. The content validity was acquired by professors’and experts’ comments. The reliability was also calculated byCronbach’s alpha (0.85). Data were analyzed in both descriptive(frequency- mean) and analytical level (t-test, analysis of variance)using SPSS 14 software.Results: 60.3% of the participants were females, and theremaining (29.7%) were males. The mean score of informationliteracy and its five subgroups among the students weren’t at adesirable level. The mean scores of information literacy foreducational grades from the highest to lowest belonged to theinternship, physiopathology and externship. The results showedthat the highest average was related to the effective access abilityto information among interns (9.27±3.57) and the lowest onewas related to the ability of understanding legal and economicalcases related with using information among externs (3.11±1.32).The results of ANOVA showed that there wasn’t a significantdifference between educational grades and information literacy.Finally, the result of independent t-test did not show a significantdifference between the two genders in information literacy.Conclusion: Regarding the importance of information literacy formedical students and undesirable status of information literacyamong students, the current educational plans will need to be revised.Keywords: Medical students; Information literacy; Technology; Medical informatics