Internet and Online Medical Journal Access Skills of the Medical Practitioners of Tamilnadu: A Study

Objectives

This study is based on the following main objectives:

• 1.

  To find out the allopathic medical practitioners skills to use of the Internet and online medical journals.

• 2.

  To find out the practitioners reasons for not using the Internet and online medical journals.

Review Of Literature

Doctors use two million pieces of information to manage patients but little research has been done on the needs that arise while treating the patients. Textbooks, journals and other existing tools are not adequate to answer the questions that arise. Textbooks are out dated and the journals are too few for them to be useful in daily practice. Computer systems that have been developed to meet doctors’ needs are likely to be electronically portable, fast, easy to use, connected to both a large valid database of medical knowledge, patient record and a servant of patient as well as doctors (Smith, 1996).

Access to the Internet is wide spread among the German-speaking Swiss primary care physicians. Only few of the practitioners used the Internet for retrieval during consultation hours. Electronic systems need to be tailored to the needs of primary care physicians. Only 14% of the respondents regularly find it useful. The main reasons for not using the Internet were time pressure and concerns about potential negative integration with physician-patient communication. To solve patient-specific problems arising during daily practice, 59% of the practitioners consult textbooks or colleagues (Koller, 2001).