Mobile learning in clinical settings

<strong>Background:</strong> The use of mobile devices among medical students and residents to access online material in real-time has become more prevalent. Most literature focused on the technical/ functional aspects of mobile use. This study explored students, doctors, and patients’ preferences and reasons towards the use of mobile devices in clinical settings. <strong>Methods:</strong> An online survey was administered to clinical year medical students and residents, followed by semi-structured interviews with the doctors and patients. <strong>Results:</strong> Survey findings showed that most medical students used their devices to find drug information and practice guidelines. The majority of the students accessed Up-To-Date followed by Google to access medical resources. Key barriers that students often encountered during the use of mobile devices were internet connectivity in the clinical settings, reliability of the information and technical issues. Thematic analysis of the interviews revealed four themes - general usage by students which includes the frequency, purpose and setting, receptivity of the use of mobile devices by students, features in selecting resources for mobile learning and limitation in the current use of mobile devices for learning. <strong>Conclusion:</strong> The findings from this study will assist in informing and developing suitable material and techniques to enhance learning in the clinical environment while interacting with patients.

**研究背景：** 医学生与住院医师实时使用移动设备获取在线医学资料的现象已愈发普及。既往多数研究仅聚焦于移动设备使用的技术与功能层面，本研究旨在探索医学生、医师及患者在临床场景中使用移动设备的使用偏好与动因。
**研究方法：** 本研究针对临床学年医学生与住院医师开展线上问卷调查，随后对医师及患者进行半结构化访谈。
**研究结果：** 问卷调查结果显示，多数医学生借助移动设备查询药品信息与临床实践指南，超半数学生优先使用UpToDate获取医学资源，其次为谷歌。医学生在移动设备使用过程中常遇到的主要障碍包括临床场景下的网络连接问题、信息可靠性不足及技术故障。对访谈内容的主题分析法揭示了四大主题：医学生使用概况（涵盖使用频率、目的与场景）、医学生对移动设备使用的接受度、移动学习资源遴选维度，以及当前移动设备用于学习的现存局限。
**研究结论：** 本研究结果可为临床场景下结合患者交互的医学学习相关适宜材料与方法的开发及优化提供参考依据。