1. Mobile Medical Education (MoMEd):
What is the impact of putting digital
mobile resources in the hands of medical
students?
Tim Vincent, Learning Technologist
Jil Fairclough, Medical School Librarian

2. Brighton & Sussex Medical School

3. In 2005, BSMS became the first UK medical school to
introduce the widespread use of mobile devices to its
students
Offered to all Year 3, 4, and 5
students (approx. 350 students)
Loaned PDA and software for free

4. Providing mobile hardware and software
@

5. Resources on the Dr Companion card
British National Formulary Oxford Concise Medical
Dictionary
Chemical Laboratory
References Oxford Handbook of
Emergency Medicine
Classification of Surgical
Operations & Procedures Oxford Handbook of
Clinical & Lab Investigation
Clinical Evidence
Oxford Handbook of
Cochrane Abstracts
Clinical Medicine
DSM IV
Oxford Handbook of
ICD 10 Clinical Surgery
NICE Compilation Oxford Handbook of
Guidance Practical Drug Therapy
Netter Atlas of Human Oxford Handbook of
Anatomy General Practice
Evidence Based Medicine Oxford Handbook of
Medical Sciences
Patient Organizations

6. Supporting set-up, roll-out, maintenance, and
training
Dir. of Undergraduate Studies Divisional assistant
Everyone!
IT Manager IT Technicians x2
Librarian
Learning Technologist
Clinical Research Fellow

7. Useful mobile technology in the clinical setting
The CCU consultant asks you
“What evidence is there for the
use of ACE inhibitors in
secondary prevention post MI?”
“And what dose is the SHO
writing up?”

8. Why mobile technology in medical training?
The future of education lies in BSMS, as a new medical
the adoption of technology, school, wants students to
such as mobile and wireless, become familiar with mobile
that connects people, unifies technology and take
the education process and advantage of the technology
enhances learning. to explore innovative
approaches to teaching and
learning.
Dr John D. Halamka, Associate Dean,
Harvard Medical School, 2002
Prof Jon Cohen, Dean of BSMS, 2003

9. GMC‟s: Tomorrow‟s Doctors (2009) expects
doctors to be able to “use information effectively in
a medical context”
“Access information sources and use
the information in relation to patient
care, health promotion, advice and
information to patients, and research
and education”
“Make effective use of computers
and other information systems,
including storing and retrieving
information.”

10. What is the impact of putting digital mobile
resources in the hands of medical students?
How much do medical What are the advantages
student really use mobile and disadvantages of
devices to access learning mobile devices in the
resources? clinical setting
What is the impact on
students’ learning?

11. Data collection
Focus groups Questionnaires Usage stats on server

12. Results: Amount of use over 10 month period
Questionnaire Tracking
Daily 101 – 1 – 10
Hardly 200
ever
Once a
week 51 –
Once a 100 11 – 50
month

13. Results: Most popular resource
Questionnaire Tracking
Choose 3 most No. of
Votes Most popular resource
popular resources uses
BNF 91 OH Clinical Medicine 3,385
OH Clinical Medicine 89 BNF 3,137
Medical dictionary 22 Medical dictionary 1,867
Netter‟s anatomy 19 OH General Practice 791
OH Clinical Surgery 884

14. Analysis: Three major themes identified
Access to Consolidation Need for
knowledge of knowledge change
Mobile Medical Education (MoMEd) - how mobile information resources contribute to learning for
undergraduate clinical students: a mixed methods study. Bethany S Davies, Jethin Rafique, Tim R
Vincent, Jil Fairclough, Mark H Packer, Richard Vincent and Inam Haq.
BMC Medical Education 2012, 12:1 doi:10.1186/1472-6920-12-1
http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6920/12/1/abstract

15. Theme 1: Access to knowledge
Mobility Speed of access
Immediacy Two devices

16. Theme 1: Access to knowledge
Mobility Speed of access
Immediacy Two devices
“The only thing is, you don‟t have
that many pockets. I would have
my wallet in one pocket, my
phone in another. I found it quite
hard to carry [the PDA] around
with me all the time.”
“The whole two devices thing is
my major gripe.”

17. Theme 2: Consolidation of knowledge
Quick reference information
Repetition
Better use of „wasted‟ time

18. Theme 2: Consolidation of knowledge
Quick reference information
“It has enhanced [my knowledge]
Repetition by reinforcing key points at point-
Better use of „wasted‟ time of-need. If you want to know
then-and-there, you can find it
then-and-there. It‟s just the
memory jog you need to reinforce
the point a bit more. It doesn‟t
mean you‟re relying on the PDA
– it just helps to reinforce and
consolidate the knowledge a bit
better.”

19. Theme 2: Consolidation of knowledge
Quick reference information
“The more repetition I get, the
Repetition more I‟m able to look at
Better use of „wasted‟ time something quickly – when I need
to - the more it‟s likely to stick.
Because you can look and say
„oh ok, that‟s what it is again‟”
“Initially, you may look at it three
times and then after that you will
become more confident in saying
„yes I know this now‟”

20. Theme 2: Consolidation of knowledge
Quick reference information
“One of the drivers for me of
Repetition using it might be more general is
Better use of „wasted‟ time just my dislike of wasted time
particularly during the day.”
“I agree. Actually, that‟s one of the
reasons I have started to use it a
lot more. There and then when
there isn‟t anything to do you can
make use of time.”

21. Theme 3: Change
Attitude, behaviour, approach
Resistance to change
Establishing change
Next section

22. Theme 3: Change
Attitude, behaviour, approach
“…if you remember to take it
Resistance to change with you”
Establishing change “I think it‟s about adopting a
different mentality.”
“I‟m worried that the nurses or
patients will think I am texting
or emailing”

23. Theme 3: Change
Attitude, behaviour, approach
“What changed your mind?”
Resistance to change “Finding I did use the PDA
Establishing change and it did come in handy
several times. It just makes
life a bit easier.”
“...I have definitely got used
to having that type of
reference at my fingertips. I
would definitely look into ways
of continuing that.”

24. Questions
1. What could you/your organisation contribute to a mobile
initiative in an HEI (any subject)?
(New/different apps? Types of resource? Usage tracking?)
2. If you were in charge of MoMEd, what models would you
choose for the next three years?
Give hardware with/without software? Don‟t provide anything??
3. What do you think is the impact on student learning
(particularly in a practice-based setting) of mobile
initiatives such as MoMEd?
(Is it improving retention of knowledge? Or creating over-reliance? How
will you feel if your doctor looks everything up on electronic devices? )

25. Is this the right approach?

26. The future of MoMEd

27. The emergence of smartphones
BSMS becomes the first UK Apple announces sales Apple becomes
medical school to introduce of 4.7m iPhones largest smartphone
the widespread use of PDAs vendor
to its students First Android phone
(G1) launches Smartphone
sales make
Steve Jobs unveils Apple up 31% of
the iPhone launches 1.8bn devices
iPad sold globally
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

28. What do the students want?
Nothing
Smartphone + PDA +
DrCompanion DrCompanion
Own
smartphone +
DrCompanion

29. iPhone pilot
4 month trial (Nov 2011-Feb 2012)
48 students with own iOS device
Novel logging to track usage
Contract to recording usage and
research participation

30. Changing the model to
information over technology
Offered to all students in years
3-5 with their own device

31. Thanks
Dr Inam Haq – Director of Undergraduate Studies
Dr Anna Jones, Dr Bethany Davies, Dr Jethin Rafique – Clinical Research
Fellows
Mark Packer – BSMS IT Manager
Jil Fairclough – BSMS Librarian
Tim Vincent – BSMs Learning Technologist
Tim Lambert – IT Technician