Physicians' information needs: analysis of questions posed during clinical teaching

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Clinical Informatics
• Information Science

Background:

• Clinical teaching involves frequent information requests.
• Understanding these information needs is crucial for improving medical education and patient care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To characterize the types and frequency of information requests made during clinical teaching.
• To analyze the nature of these information needs and their potential for satisfaction.

Main Methods:

• An anthropologist observed and recorded information requests during residents' work rounds, attending rounds, morning report, and interns' clinic.
• A coding scheme was developed and applied to categorize 454 strictly clinical information requests.

Main Results:

• An average of five clinical questions were raised per patient.
• 74% of requests concerned patient care, with 52% seeking factual information from medical records.
• 26% of patient care questions required synthesis of patient information and medical knowledge.

Conclusions:

• Clinicians frequently seek information during teaching encounters.
• A significant portion of these information needs are complex, requiring synthesis and are potentially difficult to fulfill.
• A proposed typology categorizes information needs into recognized, unrecognized, and satisfied.