Applied medical informatics and computing skills of students, residents, and faculty

Background and Objectives: Little is known regarding the applied medical in formatics and computing skills of family practice residents and faculty, ye t such information is critical when planning a medical informatics curricul um We conducted a survey at our institution to collect this information. Me thods: An applied medical informatics and computing skills survey was admin istered to 93 first-year medical students, 42 family practice residents, an d 14 family medicine faculty. Responses were compared between groups before and after stratification by age and gender: Results: A total of 92% of stu dents, 100% of residents, and 79% of faculty responded. Faculty had the hig hest rate of computer ownership (91%), followed by students (86%) and famil y practice residents (79%). Students and interns had the highest overall co nfidence using computers, followed by faculty and then senior residents. Fa culty, students, and junior residents were significantly more confident tha n senior residents in their ability to perform several specific tasks, such as conducting a MEDLINE search. Residents perceived lack of money and time as barriers to improving their skills. Conclusions: Current senior residen ts may require remedial training to graduate with the computer skills speci fied in curricular guidelines. While upcoming medical students and interns will demand more advanced training, faculty may not have the skills to prov ide it.