Trends in measures of computer experience and computer anxiety for students in three successive medical school classes.

Computer-related variables, including measures of computer anxiety and computer experience, were evaluated for three successive classes of matriculating medical students. Across the three classes, average computer anxiety measures declined and differences in the levels of computer anxiety for males and females diminished. Average measures of computer experience rose over time and were comparable for males and females, although there was a trend toward increasing divergence in the range and distribution of students' computer experience scores. Implications of these findings for addressing computer literacy in the medical curricula are discussed.