title: App Use in Psychiatric Education: A Medical Student Survey.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The objective of the study is to understand and appraise app use by medical students during their clerkships.
  
  
  METHODS
  Following Creighton University IRB approval, a voluntary and anonymous paper-based, 15-question survey was distributed to third-year medical students. Data were analyzed using Microsoft Excel.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 112 medical students available, 76.7% (86) participated in the survey. All participants owned a smartphone or tablet with 84.9% using Apple iOS, followed by 12.8% using Android platform. Students reported using the fewest number of apps during surgery, psychiatry, and obstetrics and gynecology clerkships. The largest number of apps were used during the internal medicine rotation (70.3%). The three most popular apps were Epocrates, UpToDate, and UWorld. The most common uses for these apps were as references during the clerkship, followed by improving knowledge, and test taking. Perceived major benefits included accessibility (96% of student respondents) and interactivity (39.5%). Common apps used during the psychiatry clerkship included UpToDate (71%), Epocrates (51%), and Medscape (43%). Despite less frequent app use during their psychiatry clerkship, 90% felt there was a utility for educational apps in psychiatric education.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Consistent with the previous literature on medical students preferring educational apps, students suggest developers focus on question bank-type apps, followed by clinical support-focused and self-directed case-based learning apps for psychiatry clerkship learning. Educators should factor these modes of educational delivery into future educational app development. This survey shows a high degree of smartphone and tablet use among medical students, and they attest to mobile phone app utility in psychiatric education.
authors.affiliation: Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Cecilia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lau
authors.affiliation: Creighton University School of Medicine, Omaha, NE, USA. kollivb@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Venkata
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6375-6118
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Kolli
mesh_terms: D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate; D006801:Humans; D007388:Internal Medicine / Q000193:education; D063731:Mobile Applications / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011570:Psychiatry / Q000193:education*; D000068997:Smartphone; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Applications; Apps; Education; Innovation; Mobile phone; Psychiatry