Personal digital assistants herald new approaches to teaching and evaluation in medical education.

Full Abstract

Since its arrival in 1994, the personal digital assistant (PDA) has made significant inroads in the handheld industry, with 50% of physicians anticipated as users by 2005 due to its functionality as a point-of-care medical informatics tool. However, its use in medical education is less well documented. Since 1998, PDAs have been used at Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) as both a teaching and an evaluation tool for medical student and resident education. This article highlights the use of the PDA in medical education and describes current applications for monitoring clinical experiences of students/residents, and teaching resources for hypertension, cardiac auscultation, and community health. MCW's experiences with the PDA as a real time teaching and data collection tool serves as a model for other medical schools and for our students who are educated in the importance of self-monitoring one's clinical experiences and the need for continuous improvement as future physicians.

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Author information

Author/s: Bertling, Chad J (CJ); Simpson, Deborah E (DE); Hayes, Avery M (AM); Torre, Dario (D); Brown, Diane L (DL); Schubot, David B (DB);

Affiliation: Office of Educational Services, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wis., USA.

Grants: 1-D14-HP-00157-01 (Agency:PHS HHS) ; 5-D14-HP-00093-02 (Agency:PHS HHS)

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't; Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

Journal: WMJ : official publication of the State Medical Society of Wisconsin (WMJ), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2003-; vol 102 (issue 2) : pp 46-50

Dates: Created 2003/05/20; Completed 2003/07/10; Revised 2007/11/14;

PMID: 12754909, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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