Patterns of Information Seeking Behavior among Saudi Board Residents during Clinical Practice, Saudi Arabia

Background/Purpose: Saudi Commission for Health Specialties provides multiple residency programs designed to train resident physicians to apply the best available evidence in their clinical decisions. However, while caring for patients during rounds and clinics, many residents encounter clinical questions that they need to answer. In addition, there are motivating factors and barriers that affect their seeking information behavior. The study aims to understand different patterns of information-seeking behavior among Saudi board residents during clinical practice. Methods: Our study is a cross-sectional study, and it was conducted between March 2020 and November 2021. A total of 334 Saudi residents from various specialties under the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties supervision were included in the study, and responses were collected by electronic survey. Results: Results showed that 97% of residents seek information during clinical practice to answer their clinical questions. Medical websites such as (Medscape, UpToDate) and directly asking supervisors were the most frequent resources used (87% and 67%, respectively). In addition, the most commonly asked questions were related to treatment (76%) and diagnosis or diagnostic test (15%). Among the various motivation factors to seek information, curiosity (66%) and fear of medical errors (62%) were the most reported motives. However, the most related obstacles were lack of time 73% and difficulty finding relevant information (34%). Conclusion: Outcomes of this study showed that most of the residents are encouraged to seek information and learn during clinical practice. However, there are multiple motivation factors and barriers that affect their information-seeking behavior. These factors should be recognized to understand residents’ uncertainties, improve their learning experience and develop educational recommendations to improve the outcomes of Saudi training programs.