Pre COVID-19 usage of smartphones and medical applications among medical students

Background: To determine awareness of medical students that utilize smartphone and their familiarity of medical applications.Methods: The questionnaire-based descriptive study was conducted in December 2019 and comprised medical students of first year and second year of the CMH Kharian Medical College, Kharian, and Nawaz Sharif Medical College, Gujrat, Gujranwala Medical College, Gujranwala and Mohi-ud-Din Islamic Medical College, Mirpur. Questionnaires were distributed in the classrooms and were filled by the students anonymously. SPSS 20 was used for statistical analysis.Results: Among the 770 medical students in the study, 747 (97%) had smartphones and 23 (3%) were using simple cell phones. Overall, 362 (47%) of the smart phone users were using some medical apps. Besides, 223 (29%) were aware of the medical apps but were not using them. Also, 655 (85%) students were not using any type of medical text eBooks through their phone, and only 115 (15%) had relevant text eBooks in their phones.Conclusions: A very low awareness among medical college students exists regarding smartphones as a gadget for improving medical knowledge.