Pattern and Usefulness of Smartphones in Undergraduate Medical Students in Central India – The Students’ Perspective.
Journal Title: International Journal of Medical Science and Innovative Research (IJMSIR) - Year 2019, Vol 4, Issue 4
Abstract
Introduction: Smartphones have become our personal digital assistant for people in all ages of life, for multitasking. They have given easy access to information and helps improve knowledge. They can also be used to access books and click pictures of slides or specimens which the students can revise. Students can also watch videos of procedures of examination of different systems, instantly Google for drugs, diseases and information they need. Students can also get access to social networking sites which are nowadays used for studying. This study was undertaken to find out the usage of smartphones by undergraduate medical students in Central India. Methods: A random sampling cross sectional study among 200 undergraduate medical students of 10 medical colleges in Central India was conducted, using a validated questionnaire. The results were analyzed using SPSS version 20. Results: All 200 participants owned smartphones. About 31% of the responders checked their smartphones at an interval of 1 hr and 55% kept their smartsphones on silent mode during a lecture. 12% used their smartphones during lectures only when asked by the teacher. 99% of responders used their smartphones before sleeping. Major barriers for uses of smartphones were battery life, cost, loss of data. Smartphones were mostly used for social networking followed by general use, followed by educational use. The responders were aware of hazards of smartphone usage, which are loss of concentration, eye strain and sleep disturbance. 68% of the students felt that Smartphone had an effect on their academic performance, of which 52% people had noticed a good change. Students thought that smartphones are useful to understand the topic better through videos and also to remain updated for a particular topic. Medical quizzes could also be attempted on their smartphones. Common medical apps used by students on their smartphones are Medscape, Dr Najeeb, lecturio, medical dictionary, YouTube and applications for anatomy like atlas, 3D anatomy. Conclusion: Appropriate use of a Smartphone is beneficial for educational purposes in undergraduate medical students.
Authors and Affiliations
Dr. Anne Wilkinson
Keywords
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