Medical Resident Choices of Electronic Drug Information Resources

Abstract

Objective: To determine medical residents’ day-to-day use of drug information resources since their choices of these resources, when faced with common questions, are unknown. Methods: An online survey including simulated drug information questions was administered to 146 medical residents in the Department of General Internal Medicine during July 2012. Residents were given a wide range of choices in drug information resources to answer these questions and were instructed to select what they would choose in actual practice. A score was assigned to each resource corresponding to a “best,” “intermediate,” or “not good” choice. Results: Seventy-three respondents completed the survey and results were analyzed for statistical significance. Fifty-seven percent of respondents reported receiving no formal training regarding drug information. Statistical analyses revealed there were no significant differences in performance based on postgraduate year (P = .43) or extent of prior training (P = .45). Individual question responses revealed a generally infrequent selection of “best” choices. Less than 10% of the respondents chose the “best” answer for drug information questions related to drug interactions, herbal supplements, adverse events, and medication identification. Conclusion: Further training in drug information resource selection is warranted in the medical residency program to increase the frequency of use of higher quality resources.