Smartphone and medical applications use by contemporary surgical trainees: A national questionnaire study

Abstract

Results: Thirty three percent (76/233) of trainees responded. Ninety two percent owned a smartphone. Trainees used smartphones at work for email (96%), calls (85%), SMS/MMS (81%), Internet browsing (76%) and medical app access (55%). Eighty two percent of respondents had downloaded at least one app, including clinical guidelines (70%), medical calculators (59%), anatomy guides (50%) and study aids (32%). There was no statistical difference between demographics and smartphone use or app downloads. Thirty five percent had used apps to help make clinical decisions. Thirteen percent felt they had encountered erroneous outputs, according to their own judgement and/or calculation. Fifty eight percent felt apps should be compulsorily regulated however only one trainee could name a regulatory body. Conclusion: Smartphone possession amongst NHS surgical trainees is high. Knowledge of app regulation is poor, with potential safety concerns regarding inaccurate outputs. Integration of apps, developed and approved by an appropriate authority, may improve confidence when integrating them into training and healthcare delivery.