Information Technology Practices Amongst Dental Undergraduate Students at a Private Dental Institution in India

Objective: In dental and medical education, information and communication technology (ICT) has been playing an important role and its use is rapidly increasing. In developing countries, however, information technology is still only available to a minority of health professionals. The present study aimed to assess the level of computer use among dental undergraduate students pursuing their career at a private dental institution in India. Materials and Methods: The study population comprised dental undergraduate students from first to fourth year pursuing their career in a private dental institution of India. Information technology practices were assessed using a questionnaire that consisted of 14 questions. Results: In total, 247 students with an overall response rate of 66% participated in the study. Only 58.3% of the study population mentioned that they had access to computers. Students from preclinical years reported to be competent in IT skills more frequently than the clinical year students (chi square test, P=0.007). Compared to women, men used computers more regularly both for academic activities (P=0.082) and personal use (P=0.006). Similarly, students of clinical years used computers more than preclinical students for both purposes (academic activities, P=0.045; personal use, P=0.124). Conclusion: The present study revealed that computer literacy of Indian dental undergraduate students was comparable with students of other countries whereas accessibility of IT sources was poor. Expansion of computer-assisted learning which requires careful strategic planning, resource sharing, staff incentives, active promotion of multidisciplinary working, and effective quality control should be implemented.