Domain-Specific Critical Online Reasoning of Medical Students in Final Year of Studies

Medical students preferably use online information sources for learning. However, they need to decide for themselves which sources are scientifically reliable. Especially in the field of medicine, it is relevant to learn about recent medical research results and treatment options, which are oftentimes accessible via the Internet. This requires young medical professionals to apply critical-reflective online research strategies. This study investigates the domain-specific skills for critically navigating online media of medical students during the transition from university study to professional practice. For this purpose, students at two German universities were asked to complete tasks from everyday medical practice by applying online research. Findings describe the medical students’ performance when solving these tasks and the relationship between underlying skills and personal characteristics. The study results contribute to our empirical comprehension of medical students’ skill to critically navigate online media and offer insights for future research directions in this area.