Accessing Knowledge from the Bedside

Abstract

Tablet computers are very powerful devices that have numerous potential uses in the medical field. Already, the development community has created a wide range of applications that can be used for everything from the most basic level of medical undergraduate education to specialist care delivery. The challenge with tablet computers as a new technology is to find where they fit most effectively into healthcare. In this chapter, the authors focus on how tablets might find a role in the area of care delivery in the educational setting. Included is a discussion on the tablet computer’s place on the eLearning / mLearning spectrum, an annotated list of recommended medical applications, a description of challenges and issues when deploying the tablet computers to clinical settings, and finally a proposed pilot study that will explore the effectiveness of using a tablet computer in a clinical teaching setting. The content of this chapter can be applied to many workplace and learning settings that may find tablet computers beneficial such as businesses that require mobile communications, K-12 schools, and higher learning institutions.