title: Use of the Internet among dermatologists in the United Kingdom, Sweden and Norway.
abstract: The Internet is increasingly important for doctors in all branches of medicine, but to what extent it is used by dermatologists is not known. In May 2001, we sent a questionnaire by post to 1,291 members of the dermatological societies of the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Norway. Six hundred fifty-three (51%) responded. Excluding those from retired doctors and non-dermatologists, 522 questionnaires were available for analysis. Ninety-five percent of the respondents had access to the Internet, at work (77%) and/or at home (83%). Seventy-nine percent used the world wide web for medical updating and other professional purposes. In a multivariate logistic regression analysis, age and private practice were negative predictors for Internet use (p<0.001). Sixty-two percent found medical databases on the Internet and 25% believed the Internet version of medical journals to be important for their continuing medical education. This may be compared to those who found medical journals on paper(83%), medical meetings(81%), and various forms of contact with peers and colleagues(62-66%) to be so. This study shows that a large proportion of dermatologists, especially younger doctors, use the Internet for medical and educational purposes, but Internet use has not yet replaced traditional ways of obtaining continuing medical education.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Rikshospitalet, University of Oslo, Journal of the Norwegian Medical Association Center for Health Administration.
authors.forename: Petter Jensen
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Gjersvik
authors.forename: Magne
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nylenna
authors.forename: Olaf Gjerløw
authors.initials: OG
authors.lastname: Aasland
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003880:Dermatology / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009664:Norway; D010820:Physicians / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013548:Sweden; D006113:United Kingdom