How times have changed. First PDAs, and now smartphones. The leading platforms are Android and iOS but when it comes to medical apps, iOS is at present king-of-the-hill. The Lancet Technology this month says that all medical students at Leeds University are currently issued with iPhones, not a surprising choice given the dominance and popularity of the iPhone among medical users. Interestingly, it’s not just about using the iPhone as a medical information resource (the usual mobile references etc.), it’s also about using it as a tool supporting clinical education:
Gareth tells me that a dedicated app allows students to upload reflections on cases they have seen (with sensitive information removed) to an online portfolio in real time. Workplace-based assessments can also be completed on the spot by clinicians: in short, the iPhone is helping the medical school to provide consistent support for students, and to get them into good habits for the future: “The biggest challenge we’ve got as educators is to convince people to do things now rather than get to the point when they’re applying for revalidation, and think ‘I wish I’d done that earlier.’ Because you can’t actually go back and recapture that information.”
I think this is one area which has barely been scratched. Using a smartphone in medical education in ways beyond mere referencing by utilising all the modern features found in such devices has much untapped potential.
via @Lancet in Twitter
