The Utilization of Mobile Phones with medical related apps among foreign medical students in WMU, China (Preprint)
BACKGROUND Smart phones containing medical related apps have been applied to medical practice and proved to be helpful by previous studies. However, no attention has been paid to the use of mobile phone and medical related apps among foreign medical students(FMSs) in China. OBJECTIVE The objective of the study was to investigate the utilization of mobile phones with medical apps among FMSs in WMU. METHODS A survey of FMSs was conducted in Wenzhou Medical University (WMU). Data from questionnaire include the major obstacles FMSs face in China; the acceptance and preference of medical related apps in FMSs; the patterns of medical related app usage within FMSs. RESULTS This study included ninety-three FMSs, all of whom owned at least one mobile phone. Most owners had more than one medical related app. No difference on gender or operating system was found in utilization of apps. 55% of FMSs reported using medical related apps on a daily basis, among which, 65% of them spent more than 20 minutes on medical related apps everyday. CONCLUSIONS Mobile phones were highly applied among FMSs in WMU. With more effort in app designing, smart phones could be a possible solution for necessary aid in learning medicine overseas.