Educational resources used by medical students in primary healthcare rotation: A cross sectional study

Objective: To identify what educational resources are used by medical students for their personal study during Primary health care (PHC) clinical rotation and the reasons for making these choices at King Saud University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Methods: A survey of 176 male and female medical students was conducted during PHC rotation. A self-administered questionnaire ascertained the type of educational source with reason and preferred type of teaching method. Responses by male and female students were compared by using Pearson’s Chi-square tests.

Results: Of the 176 students, 85.8% used handouts, 77.3% used the internet, and 46.6% used textbooks. Of the three types of resources, 14.8% used one, 31.8% used all three sources, and 53.4% used two sources. Reasons for selecting a resource were; educational materials are up to the point (88.6%), convenient (85.2%), reliable (77.3%) fit the learning style (77.3%), exam focus (60.8%), recommended by seniors (57.4%), recommended by department (56.8%). The preferred teaching method was lecture (79.5%), and least preferred was student presentations (55.1%). Female medical students used internet related material greater than the males (86.9% versus 68.5%; p value <0.001), and tended to utilize more than one educational resource than male students.

Conclusion: Medical students used multiple resources for relevance and convenience. Female students used network resources more than male students.