Utility of Mobile Technology for Medical Education: A Perception of Medical Students of a Private Medical College

Abstract Introduction: Mobile technology plays vital role in every aspect of life including teaching learning activities in medical field. But due to lack of defined norms on limitation and fear of misutilisation of facilities by students, the establishment  of mobile technology friendly colleges are far from reality. So this study is planned to explore perception and utilization of mobile technology facilities by students of a private medical college. Methods: This is a questionnaire based cross sectional study done among the medical students of one of the private medical college of Lalitpur district in the month of October 2019. Students studying MBBS at first and third year were enrolled as participants. Among 183 total students, 161 students consented for study. Anonymity of the respondent was well preserved. Data was presented in form of descriptive statistics. Results: A total of 161 participated in this study, 83 were from first year and 77 from third year. All the students possessed at least one mobile device. Mean time spend in mobile device was 5.66 hours per day (SD±3.699hrs). More than half (54%) of the participants reported that mobile devices should be allowed in the classroom during lectures to make important notes (20.8%), clearing confusions (29.2%) and recording lecture class (8.3%) to recapture. Conclusions: Regular utilization of mobile device for multiple purpose is prevailing among medical students. However lack of awareness and proper information on reliable resources of medical education may limit beneficial use of these devices in educational purpose. Key words: Mobile technology, Medical education, Perception