Social networks are becoming increasingly popular among university students. The aim of this study was to explore the influence of social networks on the grades of second stage medical students at the College of Medicine, University of Babylon, Iraq. Fifty medical students completed web-hosted questionnaire about type of social networks they used frequently, time spent on these media in hours per day, main reason for use of these networks and the impact on their social interaction, study time and grades. Students were also asked to provide the cumulative grades of physiology, anatomy and biochemistry courses. Time spent by students on social networks was correlated with study time and combined grades of the three courses. All students have been using facebook and 96% have been using facebook messenger or other social networks. Eighty-four percent of students reported that social networks reduce social interaction. Average time spent on social networks and study time were 5.22± 2.96, 5.51±4.57 hours per day respectively whereas students average combined grades (out of 40) was 29.85± 10.63. No correlation has been found between time spent on social networks and students combined grades of the three courses or study time. Despite that social networks are very popular among medical student at University of Babylon, the use of these networks seems to have no significant effect on their grades which could be attributed to a controlled use of these networks.
Key words: Facebook, Grades, Medical students, Social networks
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