Internet and Online Medical Journal Access Skills of the Medical Practitioners of Tamilnadu

This study focuses on the allopathic medical practitioners’ skill to use online medical journals and barriers faced while seeking information. Five-hundred-twenty-nine medical practitioners are involved in this study. Among the total sample, one-third of the practitioners have skill to use the online medical journals and the remaining two-thirds of them do not have this skill. Gender and workplace of the practitioners do not have significant association in the access skill of the online medical journals. However, it is reversed for the practitioners’ educational qualification. Online medical journal access skill is in descending order of the practitioners’ educational qualification. The top three reasons for not using the online journals are presented in descending order: not knowing how to search (69.998%), lack of time (59.721%), and did not know the availability (58.609%). Government bodies (NIC, DPH, DME) and medical associations (IMA, S-IMA) associated with medical librarians may conduct digital information literacy level assessments of the medical practitioners and plan to organise digital information source awareness programs and hands-on training programs to the practitioners at regular intervals.