Diffusion of Innovations: Use of Mobile Technology for Point‐of‐Contact Clinical Anatomy Learning Resources

Abstract

Scholarly work in anatomical sciences education has emphasized a crucial foundational role for introductory courses in gross anatomy in preclinical medical education. Despite successes of anatomy courses in preclinical curricula, a need remains for reinforcing fundamental knowledge with clinically relevant detail in clerkships and residencies. Clinical tasks and restrictive schedules typically leave little time for formal instruction. However, diffusion of innovations in education has provided new resources that may help address these challenges. Widespread self‐adoption of smartphones and mobile computing devices now equips students with "wearable" personal technology useful for self‐learning in point‐of‐contact clinical settings. The author designed Surgical Anatomy PRN to be a mobile anatomy learning resource for surgical clerkships and residencies. Initially programmed with XHTML, descriptive text, and anatomical images for personal digital assistants (PDAs), code and data were also usable on the more capable Web browsers of smartphones and personal computers. Chapter information was assembled for over two dozen of the most common diseases and clinical conditions encountered in UCLA general surgery clerkships. Surgical Anatomy PRN is currently being published for clerkships and residences as a combined, printed pocket book, Web‐based online resource, and iPhone ebook application.