Prior experience of office package among new entrants at Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Skill to work with an office package is essential for students. OBJECTIVES: To assess the level of confidence and frequency of usage on Microsoft Word (WORD), PowerPoint (PPT) and Excel (EXCEL) among new entrants. METHODS: Moodle based self-administered questionnaire was given to new entrants in 2015 and 2016 batches. RESULTS: The results are described according to the 2015 (n=159) and 2016 (n=147) batches respectively. Proportions who had used WORD before were 98% (n=156) and 97% (n=143). Those who used it more than once a week were 24% (n=38) and 35% (n=52) and 22% (n=35)) and 20% (n=29) were reported to have confidence in working with WORD. Proportions who had used PPT before were 96% (n=153) and 93% (n=137).Those who used it more than once a week were 14% (n=22) and 22% (n=33) and 19% (n=30) and 22% (n=33) were reported to have confidence in working with PPT. Proportions who had used EXCEL before were 82% (n=130) and 90% (n=132).Those who used it more than once a week were 7% (n=11) and 9% (n=13) and 6% (n=9) and 9% (n=13) were reported to have confidence in working with EXCEL. Level of confidence using WORD and PPT was not significantly different (P=0.9), but was significantly higher compared to EXCEL, p value being <0.01 for both comparisons. Frequency of using WORD was high compared to PPT (P<0.01) and EXCEL (P<0.01), and PPT compared to EXCEL (P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: New medical entrants were more confident in using WORD and PPT and were regularly using WORD compared to PPT and EXCEL.