Utilization of Apple iPads in Student Clinical Rotations to Improve Safety and Streamline Information Access

Abstract

Abstract Introduction American Society for Microbiology, Guidelines for Biosafety in Teaching Laboratories (2012) state that educators must use best practices to minimize risk of biohazard contamination to students. Integrating mobile digital devices into Medical Laboratory Science (MLS) programs’ clinical training is potentially one means of reducing this risk. Historically, student assignments and evaluations for clinical rotations were in paper format. The purpose of this pilot project was to ascertain attitudes from students and clinical educators on using mobile devices as a laboratory bench-side educational tool during clinical rotations. Methods In this prospective study, three senior-level MLS students used Apple iPads (Apple, Inc; Cupertino, CA) in concert with Google Drive (Google; Mountain View, CA) in lieu of paper manuals during Hematology and Transfusion Medicine clinical rotations at Virginia Commonwealth University Health in fall 2018. Two VCUH clinical educators from these laboratories also participated. All participants were trained on usage and access of electronic material on the iPads as well as proper cleaning of the devices. As a comparison, student participants used paper clinical manuals during their Chemistry and Microbiology rotations. In addition, the clinical educators used paper versions of clinical manuals during four of five student rotations that occurred in fall 2018. Prestudy surveys were used to assess attitudes toward mobile devices. Focus groups, for students and clinical educators, separately, were conducted after completion of the clinical rotations. Conclusions The results of the study indicate that advantages of employing mobile devices include improvement of safety by eliminating transfer of paper worksheets from laboratory to the outside, ability to electronically monitor students’ progress through clinical laboratory rotations, and ease of accessibility to electronic references at the bench-side. Moving forward, the study will expand to include additional disciplines and students as well as employment of styli and DocuSign (DocuSign, Inc.; San Francisco, CA).