Volume 25, Issue 118, December 2021

Utility and perception of smartphone related medical apps among medical students during full-time virtual learning

Arwa A AlJishi¹, Ghaida A AL Zaher¹, Zainab A Alqutayfi¹, Fatimah B Al mousa¹, Zainab A Jadher¹, Alaa H Aljanabi¹, Einas M Yousef^2,3♦

¹College of Medicine, Dar Al Uloom University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
²Department of Medical Education/Basic medical sciences, College of Medicine, Dar Al Uloom University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
³Department of Histology and Cell Biology, College of Medicine, Menoufia University, Egypt

^♦Corresponding author
Department of Medical Education/Basic medical sciences, College of Medicine, Dar Al Uloom University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT

Objectives: This article investigated the purposes and medical students’ perception of using smartphone medical applications, as well as the impacts on their clinical practice during full-time virtual learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Between March and August 2020, an anonymous online survey was distributed among 338 undergraduate medical students (second to six year) who were randomly selected from different colleges of medicine, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Results: Our findings revealed that almost all students have smartphones, and that clinical skill guide was the most prevalent reason for utilizing medical apps. Most of our participants thought these apps were useful in saving time, simple to obtain, and safe tools for patient care. Conclusions: Our research highlights medical students' positive sentiments toward using medical applications in their studies, particularly during full-time virtual learning. Using these medical apps might help medical students and the education system to narrow the gaps that had been emerged during the lockdown.

Keywords: Medical apps, smartphones, full-time virtual learning, medical students, perception

Medical Science, 2021, 25(118), 3259-3265

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