The college鈥檚 Harriet F. Ginsburg Health Sciences Library handed out the iPads in the largest distribution since the digital learning program began in 2010. That year, the medical school鈥檚 first 100 students received iPads as holiday gifts from a local philanthropist, the Ginsburg Family Foundation.
鈥淚pads were new on the market at that time, and people saw the potential, but weren鈥檛 quite sure what they could do with the technology,鈥� said Library Director Nadine Dexter. But the donation helped the 麻豆原创 College of Medicine become a national leader in digital medical education. Today, 4 textbooks are available on the tablets. Using technology, students can take notes right in the 鈥渧irtual鈥� book, zoom in and out of the pages, watch videos of specific patient cases and even compare and share notes with classmates through a special social media feature. Health databases like DynaMed and Hippocrates allow students to quickly look up drug and disease information from an approved and accurate source. Students can buy books by the chapter, reducing the cost of expensive textbooks, and don鈥檛 have to carry around heavy books or a laptop.
鈥淚t鈥檚 very interesting to listen to students talk about how they鈥檙e integrating the use of a tablet into their daily learning style鈥� Dexter added. 鈥淔rom taking notes to answering email and pulling up library e-books and articles, they鈥檝e gotten pretty creative.鈥�
The medical school鈥檚 library is 98 percent digital, and its motto is 鈥渋nformation anywhere, any time, on any device鈥� because digital material means students don鈥檛 have to be in the library to access information. The class of 2017 is the first to get the mini version of the iPad, which the library team hopes will be more convenient to carry and navigate, especially in clinical settings.
Many of the new first-year students had heard about the library鈥檚 iPad learning program, and were delighted to learn they were receiving their tablets before classes even started. 鈥淚t鈥檚 definitely one of the factors I took into account when choosing my medical school,鈥� said first year student, Sean Chagani. 鈥淚 saw students walking the halls looking through CT scans and x-rays on their iPad. I thought it was a really cool, innovative way to essentially take your work home with you.鈥�
Other students are looking forward to using the tablet to lighten their everyday load. 鈥淚t鈥檚 definitely a step forward in education in terms of its technology,鈥� first year student Brandon Hendrix said. 聽鈥淚n undergrad, I would spend hundreds of dollars on giant textbooks. Now I鈥檒l have them on the iPad, which will be a lot more convenient.鈥�