MDs' office Internet use hits 57%
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* Shelley Martin

Although most (89%) Canadian physicians use the Internet, only 57% currently have access to it at their office or clinical practice, data from the CMA's 2002 Physician Resource Questionnaire (PRQ) indicate. Younger physicians are more likely to be wired in at work, with 62% of those under age 35 and 61% of those aged 35 to 44 reporting that they have access at a professional location. This declines to 55% for those aged 55 to 64 and to 42% in the 65-and-older group. Medical specialists are much more likely (72%) to have access at work than GP/FPs (48%) and surgical specialists (56%).

![Figure1](http://www.cmaj.ca/https://www.cmaj.ca/content/cmaj/168/4/475.2/F1.medium.gif)

[Figure1](http://www.cmaj.ca/content/168/4/475.2/F1)

Figure. 

Overall, 53% of Canadian physicians use the Internet at work for at least one purpose. One-third of physicians now use email daily as part of their practice, and 46% use it at least occasionally. Daily email use at the office or professional location is more prevalent among medical specialists (47%) than surgical specialists (36%) or GP/FPs (22%).

MEDLINE searches are the next most popular Internet application at physicians' offices, although usage tends to occur more irregularly — only 3% of physicians reported searching MEDLINE from work every day. Just over one-quarter (27%) of Canadian physicians visit online drug databases at least occasionally from their workplace, and 32% read online news in medicine and health care. Thirty-eight percent browse or read online journals at work, 38% visit other physician-oriented Web sites, and 27% view patient-oriented Web resources.

The PRQ is Canada's largest annual survey of physicians' professional activities. The 2002 PRQ was mailed to a random sample of 7693 doctors, and the response rate was 38%. Results at the national level are considered accurate to ±1.9%, 19 times out of 20. Tables are available at [www.ecmaj.com](http://www.ecmaj.com) **/cgi** **/content/full/167/5/521/DC1**. — *Shelley Martin*, Senior Analyst, Research, Policy and Planning Directorate, CMA