title: Junior physician's use of Web 2.0 for information seeking and medical education: a qualitative study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Web 2.0 internet tools and methods have attracted considerable attention as a means to improve health care delivery. Despite evidence demonstrating their use by medical professionals, there is no detailed research describing how Web 2.0 influences physicians' daily clinical practice. Hence this study examines Web 2.0 use by 35 junior physicians in clinical settings to further understand their impact on medical practice.
  
  
  METHODS
  Diaries and interviews encompassing 177 days of internet use or 444 search incidents, analyzed via thematic analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Results indicate that 53% of internet visits employed user-generated or Web 2.0 content, with Google and Wikipedia used by 80% and 70% of physicians, respectively. Despite awareness of information credibility risks with Web 2.0 content, it has a role in information seeking for both clinical decisions and medical education. This is enabled by the ability to cross check information and the diverse needs for background and non-verified information.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Web 2.0 use represents a profound departure from previous learning and decision processes which were normally controlled by senior medical staff or medical schools. There is widespread concern with the risk of poor quality information with Web 2.0 use, and the manner in which physicians are using it suggest effective use derives from the mitigating actions by the individual physician. Three alternative policy options are identified to manage this risk and improve efficiency in Web 2.0's use.
authors.affiliation: Department of Information Systems, ESADE Business School, Av. Pederables 60-62, 08034 Barcelona, Spain. Benjamin.hughes@alumni.esade.edu
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hughes
authors.forename: Indra
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Joshi
authors.forename: Hugh
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lemonde
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wareham
mesh_terms: D003194:Computer-Assisted Instruction / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004502:Education, Medical, Continuing / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004521:Educational Measurement; D004739:England; D020407:Internet / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008505:Medical Staff, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013663:Teaching / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data