RESUMO
The objective of this study was to evaluate the use of the Internet by students in three francophone Faculties of Medicine, in Batna (Algeria), Rouen (France) and Sousse (Tunisia), and to identify and assess students' research skills in seeking educational resources. In 2008, a cross-sectional study was conducted in the three faculties. An anonymous self-administered questionnaire gathered information on the students' IT equipment, the interest and relevance of the Internet in the curriculum of medical studies, and information on the last three research efforts for educational resources done using the Internet. In Batna, 300 students were enrolled, 182 in Rouen and 87 in Sousse. Nearly 80% of students used the Internet to research educational resources. Students in Batna and Sousse more frequently reported a lack of appropriate or sufficient training for Internet use than students in Rouen. In total, 1288 Internet searches were analyzed. For an individual research effort on the Internet, the average time was 61,9 minutes (standard deviation [SD] = 65,9) in Batna, 26,3 minutes (SD = 30,2) in Rouen and 42,6 minutes (SD = 51, 0) Sousse (p 10-4). Less than one in two students considered their research successful. It is important to provide advice and guidance to students on how to use and interpret the multiple types and sources of medical information of varying quality that are found on the Internet. It is the responsibility of teachers to fulfill this role and help to facilitate the navigation of this new source of information.