A Comparison of the Internet and the Standard Textbook in Preparing for the Professional Anaesthetic Examination

Abstract

The Internet is increasingly being recognised as a source of informationin different fields, and medicine is no exception. We investigated the use ofthe Internet as an aid in preparing for the professional medical examinations.The Internet was compared to a standard textbook in answering a randomlyselected past examination paper. Thirty-eight web-sites on the Internet wereinvolved, giving information to all the examination questions. In contrast,the textbook provided adequate information in only 73.3% of the questions. Thetime required to search for information on the Internet was more than thatrequired for a single textbook. (approximately 2 hours per question comparedto 30 minutes per question respectively). However, with the rapid developmentof computer technology and the cyberspace, the Internet may prove to be aviable alternative or a good supplement to the standard textbook when traineeanaesthetists are preparing for their professional medical examinations.