University of Louisville: Med Schools Integrate Handhelds
The University of Louisville's Medical and Dental Schools are among the first
in the country to distribute Palm handhelds to all medical and dental students
as a part of their entire four-year curricula. Other universities require handhelds
for their third and forth year students (clinical stages), but providing handhelds
in year one is a new trend.
Ruth Greenberg, director of academic programs at the University Health Sciences
Center and director of the Office of Curriculum Development and Evaluation,
says this has "set apart" the university. It wants students to become familiar
with technology at the beginning of their education. Students need to understand
the role technology will play in their professional lives and be comfortable
using the same tools they will use as practicing physicians and dentists.
Devising a Plan
Greenberg explains that the decisions concerning which PDA to purchase, as well
as the overall plan regarding handhelds, was determined by a group of medical
and dental students and faculty. This group researched and studied Palm handhelds,
and provided information and feedback individually and in focus groups.
According to Greenberg, the plan that was agreed upon consists of two stages.
Stage One, which has recently been accomplished, was to get the hardware in
the hands of the users (first year medical and dental students). Stage Two will
integrate the handhelds directly into the academic programs by working with
individual courses. They propose to work one-on-one with course directors in
order to accomplish the second stage, which is presently occurring.
"Handhelds are part of our students' professional future," Greenberg says,
explaining that handhelds are tools that can instantly connect healthcare professionals
to the up-to-date resources they need at the point of patient care. Immediate
access to information is a tremendous benefit and timesaver, especially in the
era of managed healthcare, where time is a premium, according to Greenberg.
She believes that students should learn to use a PDA in their basic science
years so that they'll be efficient handheld users when they become actively
engaged in patient care in years three and four.
According to Greenberg, precisely how the first year students will use the
handhelds has not been determined. She d'es believe it will be a more didactic
experience for the first and second year students. Specific activities using
the handhelds are currently being planned. It is expected that students will
use such resources as the medical dictionary and the five-minute clinical consult.
Numerous other components are available through handhelds, such as drug interactions,
information regarding medicines, specific patient conditions, etc. PDAs will
provide all students with quick access to resources and an easier method of
locating and recording information.
Building an Infrastructure
The University of Louisville's Health Sciences Center also plans to build a
robust infrastructure to maximize the use of the handhelds and provide content
and new applications to students via HotSync stations.
When students place their
handhelds in the HotSync cradle, applications and data can be quickly downloaded
onto their handhelds with the touch of a button. The university is using Novell
ZENworks for handhelds, a systems management product from Novell Inc., to centrally
manage and update software applications, enabling the university to reduce the
cost of providing IT support, while keeping students and faculty up-to-date.
The purchase of the Palm m500 handhelds follows the University of Louisville
Medical School's one-year study of third-year students using handhelds in their
clinical rotations. This study was conducted in the fall of 2002.
Greenberg believes it is one of the first investigations of a large group using
handhelds in medical education. More than 135 students and preceptors who oversee
clinical rotations participated in the study, which confirmed what Greenberg
expected—handhelds are a valuable tool in medical education. Greenberg states
that they are currently focused on designing an infrastructure that will allow
faculty to deliver more to students on their PDAs and PDA-based activities that
engage first and second year students more actively with this technology.
For more information, contact Dr. Ruth Greenberg, director of academic programs
at the University Health Sciences Center and director of the Office of Curriculum
Development and Evaluation, University of Louisville, at [email protected].