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The value of the Internet to anaesthetists
1Department of Anaesthesia, Orillia Soldiers' Memorial Hospital, ON, Canada. oyston@oyston.com
Purpose:
To determine which anaesthetists are using the Internet, which resources they find most valuable, and whether the Internet provides useful information which changes the way in which they practice anaesthesia.
Method:
The survey was posted on the World Wide Web and publicised by e-mail messages to the major anaesthesia discussion lists on the Internet.
Results:
Two hundred and five valid replies were received from 22 countries. The typical respondent was an American male specialist who worked in a university or teaching hospital in a city with a population of over one million. The most populat World Wide Web site was GASNet, and the Anesthesiology Discussion Group was the most popular discussion list. Eighty-one percent of anaesthetists had changed their practice of anaesthesia based on information obtained via the Internet. Ninety-six percent recommend that other anaesthetists join the Internet.
Conclusion:
The Internet is a valuable resource for anaesthetists but, at present, it is used mainly by anaesthetists in universities and other major centres, especially in North America.