Medical Students’ Preferences of Study Resources: Physical vs Digital Resources

Introduction Medical school students are presently confronted with distinct study resources, that can be categorized into physical and digital formats. Additionally, existing literature offers limited insights into the most efficacious and favored modalities of study adopted by medical students. The following research seeks to elucidate the optimum mode of study embraced by medical students, concurrently examining the determinants influencing their choices. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted, encompassing a cohort of 572 students from the Colleges of Medicine and Dental Medicine at the University of Sharjah, Sharjah, UAE. All the students in the target population were invited to participate in this study by completing a self-administered questionnaire. The ensuing data analysis was executed using SPSS version 25 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY). Results Among the participants, 184/570 individuals were male, constituting 32.3% of the total sample, while 386/570 participants were female, representing 67.7% of the sample. A predominant proportion of students 355/567 (62.6%) articulated a preference for both modalities of studying, whereas those exclusively favoring either physical or digital formats constituted 119/567 (21%) and 93/567 (16.4%), respectively. Notably, an association was discerned between both colleges and the favored mode of study, indicating that a higher percentage of medical students 198 (53.8%) exhibited a preference for recommended textbooks compared to their counterparts in dental medicine 60 (29.4%) (P-value <0.001). The utilization of printed textbooks demonstrated a decline among third-year students 66 (35.7%) when juxtaposed with first and second-year students 97 (49.5%) and 94 (49.7%), respectively (P-value = 0.001). The prevailing inclination among students was to select learning resources based on the quality of information provided 457/571 (80%) and considerations pertinent to their time and schedule 501/572 (87.6%). Conclusion Students within the colleges of medicine and dental medicine enhance their educational experiences through the utilization of a variety of learning resources encompassing both physical and digital modalities. Among the factors influencing their selection, only the quality of information proffered by the learning source and schedule held substantive significance.