[Information retrieval and reading routines in medical students]

For a physician working as an expert continuous following of scientific literature is required. We elucidated the competence of 5th and 6th year students for the development of expertise. The mean time spent on reading medical literature was seven hours a week. The most important source of information for the students were websites with short quidelines and introductions written in students' own language. International original articles or English textbooks were not so much appreciated and seldom read. The present curricula in our medical schools do not encourage the student to search and acquire knowledge wider than their patients themselves do.