Real-time use of the iPad by third-year medical students for clinical decision support and learning: a mixed methods study

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Introduction

Mobile technology has become more widespread in use by medical students for assisting in healthcare tasks. However, there is not enough research to understand how much mobile technology is affecting the tasks of healthcare. Three particular things were analyzed: how medical students used mobile technology in the care of patients, the mobile applications (apps) used, and how expertise and time spent changed overtime.[1]

Methods

The type of study used is a mixed methods study. Data was collected through four different ways: beginning and end-of-year questionnaires, iPad usage logs, weekly rounding observations, and weekly medical student interviews.[1] The medical students who participated in the study were third-year medical students. iPads were distributed to the medical students who participated and data was collected.

Results

The medical students mainly used the iPads “to obtain real-time patient data via the electronic health record (EHR), to access medical knowledge resources for learning, and to inform patient care.”[1] The usage of this technology by the medical students grew over the period of time of the study.

Discussion

Through the study, the use of mobile technology—in this case, the iPads—is done extensively by medical students; the medical students mainly use the mobile technology for assistance in clinical decision support and learning in the care of patients.[1] The integration of the mobile technology into the clinical setting helped increase the expertise of the medical students.

Comments

This paper is quite interesting because of the kind of study this is. The observation of mobile technology use is not often seen in a scientific study. It is nice to see a study that shows observational data of mobile technology use in a clinical setting.

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Nuss, M. A., Hill, J. R., Cervero, R. M., Gaines, J. K., & Middendorf, B. F. (2014). Real-time use of the iPad by third-year medical students for clinical decision support and learning: a mixed methods study. Journal of Community Hospital Internal Medicine Perspectives, 4(4), 10.3402/jchimp.v4.25184. http://doi.org/10.3402/jchimp.v4.25184