Smart phones for medical undergraduates: friend or foe?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18203/2349-3933.ijam20190119Keywords:
Academic, Electronics, Medical, Smart phones, UndergraduatesAbstract
Background: Smart phones are truly a boon for us in all aspects of our life. It helps mankind to lead a faster and easier life, but the same devices used to get things done are now the gatekeepers of an infinite number of distractions and sources of instant gratification. Even though, there is an ocean full of information a click away, we fail to utilize it for something resourceful. Increased media consumption, multi screening and social media usage reduce the ability to focus on tasks and duties which have a much higher priority.
Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted with a validated questionnaire among 200 undergraduate MBBS students of a deemed to be medical university.
Results: Among the ninety-eight per cent of the students who own a smartphone, all have access to the internet. Seventy-seven per cent of the students use these gadgets on a very regular basis throughout the day and among them only forty-six per cent were found to be using it for academic purposes.
Conclusions: Through this study, it has become more discernible that smart phones have paved its way for a reckless future, though if used wisely it would become a blessing in disguise. The ever-changing medical fraternity could really benefit from this discovery but alas, a tool made to make our lives easier is weighing us down with its addictive and time-consuming features.References
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