title: Awareness of academic use of smartphones and medical apps among medical students in a private medical college?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the awareness of medical apps and academic use of smartphones among medical students.
  
  
  METHODS
  The questionnaire-based descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in January 2015 and comprised medical students of the Rawal Institute of Health Sciences, Islamabad, Pakistan. The self-designed questionnaire was reviewed by a panel of expert for content reliability and validity. Questionnaires were distributed in the classrooms and were filled by the students anonymously. SPSS 16 was used for statistical analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among the 569 medical students in the study, 545 (95.8%) had smartphones and 24(4.2%) were using simple cell phones. Overall, 226(41.46%) of the smart phone users were using some medical apps. Besides, 137(24.08%) were aware of the medical apps but were not using them. Also, 391(71.7%) students were not using any type of medical text eBooks through their phone, and only 154(28.3%) had relevant text eBooks in their phones.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Medical college students were using smartphones mostly as a means of telecommunication rather than a gadget for improving medical knowledge.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Jehanzaib
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shah
authors.affiliation: 3rd Year Medical Student, Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Usman
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Haq
authors.affiliation: Benazir Bhutto Hospital, Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bashir
authors.affiliation: Department Surgery, Rawal Institute of Health Sciences, Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Syed Aslam
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Shah
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004501:Education, Medical / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends; D018961:Educational Technology / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D063731:Mobile Applications / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010154:Pakistan; D000068997:Smartphone / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013664:Teaching Materials
keywords: Smartphones, Medical applications, Medical students, Medical college, Medical education.