Abstract:
Objectives: To evaluate the IT aptitude of medical and dental students. The secondary objectives were to identify IT related
issues faced by students during e-learning sessions,to asssess the perception of e-learning among students and to assess
the perception of different e-media among students.
Study design and Setting: A cross-sectional study was conducted among randomly selected MBBS and BDS students
of various private Medical and Dental Colleges of Karachi, affiliated with the same University.
Methodology: The sample size was calculated to be 442. Students from the first year to the final year were approached
to fill the online pre-tested questionnaire. The data collected was analyzed using SPSS, Version 21. Confidentiality and
privacy of the data were maintained. Ethical approval was taken from the relevant boards.
Results: Out of 446 participants, 57.62% were from MBBS and 42.3% were from BDS. 96.41% of students were taking
their online classes from their home. Most of the students (56.7%) preferred mobile phones for these sessions and used
broadband or local area network internet connections (55.59%).
Conclusion: Uninterrupted network connectivity is crucial for the effective implementation of a Virtual Education Program.
The Medical and Dental Colleges of a developing country like Pakistan, have a long way to go but with the development
of a technologically sound infrastructure, e-learning can prove to be successful in the future