Indicators on Access to and use of telecommunication services among Medical Students of the National AutonomousUniversity of Honduras, 2017
Main Article Content
Keywords
digital divide, Health Communication, Information Technology, Medical education, Medical Informatics
Abstract
Advances in technological development is not always equivalent to improved telecommunication access. Objective: To know the actual access and use of the information and communication technologies (ICT) amongst medical students of the Medical Sciences Faculty (FCM) of the National Autonomous University of Honduras (UNAH), because these represent close to the total amount of students in this area in the country. Materials and Methods: A descriptive transversal study was performed during the first semester of 2017. A 434 student sample was achieved to whom a questionnaire was applied that measured the access and use of ICT amongst them. Results and Conclusions: The study shows that 62.21% of students had 1 land line phone service, 95.39% had mobile phone service, 88.25% had home internet and 17.28% had access through some academic unit inside the faculty. The services consumed by the surveyed have restricted benefits and high costs because of a market limited in offers which results from public policies created to strengthen private services rather than to orient towards diminishing the digital divide through incrementing offer and reducing costs or strengthening state services.
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