iPhone - personal medical assistant

While I was in Leeds this week, I came across a fascinating research project that is having a major impact on undergraduate studies.

Following an earlier collaboration between health schools across the north of England called ALPS (Assessment and Learning in Practice Settings) which explored the value of mobile computing for medical students, Leeds Medical School has implemented a programme whereby it gives iPhones (or iPod Touches, if preferred) to its new undergraduates.  The phones are free. So is all the data.  The students must merely maintain a pay-as-you-go contract with O2. It sounds like a scam. It isn’t.

The devices are intregral to the curriculum being used in lectures, labs and most interestingly, during placements.  It offers students a single tool to access and record information and data – something invaluable to medical professionals treating patients.

I think it’s a great idea.  And, not surprisingly, it’s proving enormously popular with undergraduates.  I wonder what other courses might follow the initiative?