Abstract

SMARTPHONE USAGE AND ATTITUDE AMONG MEDICAL STUDENTS AS A NEW LEARNING AID IN MEDICAL EDUCATION IN NORTHWEST INDIA: A QUESTIONNAIRE BASED STUDY

Deepshikha Yadav*, Shivangi Sharma, Lokendra Sharma and Suman Kanwar

Abstract

Introduction: Smartphones are becoming popular in medical field, with evolving priority on evidence-based medicine and e-learning, it becomes increasingly important to have baseline data on country‟s next generation of physicians. The present study was conducted to assess attitude of medical students towards the usage of mobile phones as a learning aid and its perceived advantages and disadvantages. Methods: The present study was a questionnaire-based descriptive cross-sectional study conducted in November 2017 and comprised 500 Medical students of three Government Medical Colleges of Rajasthan, India. A Prevalidated 18 point, structured, questionnaire were distributed in the classrooms after lecture and were filled by the students anonymously. SPSS was used for statistical analysis. Results: Of the 500 students enrolled in the study 376 completed the questionnaire with a response rate of 75 %. 99.2 % owned smartphones mostly Android Phones. Popular medical applications amongst students were Google/Wikipedia 87.8 %, Medical Dictionary and Medscape. 58 % students, reported to have technological skills to use smartphones. Major advantages percieved by students were access current information 69 % and anytime /anywhere access 23%. Major barriers to learning were slow speed and cost. Conclusion: Present Net generation of Medical students have positive attitude towards use of Smart phones in Medical curriculum and needs training to improve effectiveness of using medical apps as supplement to learning.

Keywords: Smart phones, medical education, learning, student, medical.