ArticleBMC medical education2024
Exploring smartphone use and its applicability in academic training of medical students in Latin America: a multicenter cross-sectional study.
Article in BMC medical education, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed.
- A serious video game for teaching basic point-of-care echocardiography skills: a non-inferiority trial.BMC medical education · 2026Trial
- Introducing virtual microscopy at the University of Ghana during the COVID-19 pandemic-Identifying and overcoming obstacles in a low-resource learning environment.Anatomical sciences education · 2026Article
- Authors' Reply: Why Medical Education Without Artificial Intelligence Still Matters: A Neuroscience-Informed Perspective.JMIR medical education · 2026Article
- Artificial Intelligence in Medical Education: Transformative Potential, Current Applications, and Future Implications.JMIR medical education · 2026Article
- Teleophthalmology adoption and perceived barriers among Colombian general practitioners: a cross-sectional study.Frontiers in digital health · 2026Article
- A global overview of anatomical science education and its present and future role in biomedical curricula.Anatomical sciences education · 2026Review
- Design, implementation, and evaluation of IIIDDS: a structured WhatsApp case-discussion curriculum in undergraduate radiology education.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Article
- Assessing the educational impact and quality of medical microvideos on TikTok: the case of Latin America.Medical education online · 2025Article
- Digital Learning in Motion: Exploring Mobile Device Use in Mexican Residents.Journal of graduate medical education · 2025Article
- Generative Artificial Intelligence in Medical Education: Enhancing Critical Thinking or Undermining Cognitive Autonomy?Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
- Dental students' perceptions, attitudes, and professional approaches toward the use of social media in learning endodontics: a cross-sectional survey.BMC medical education · 2025Article
- The Evolution of Medical Student Competencies and Attitudes in Digital Health Between 2016 and 2022: Comparative Cross-Sectional Study.JMIR medical education · 2025Article
- HIV Stigma and Discrimination in Colombian Healthcare: Insights from a National Cross-Sectional Analysis of General Practitioners.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Impact of Mobile Phone Usage on Sleep Quality Among Medical Students Across Latin America: Multicenter Cross-Sectional Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
13 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundMobile phones are essential tools worldwide, including for the academic training of medical students. However, their role in Latin America (LATAM) remains underexplored. This study aimed to evaluate cell phone use and its applicability in the academic training of medical students in LATAM.
methodsA cross-sectional online survey was conducted among undergraduate medical students from seven Latin American countries between December 2023 and February 2024. The study assessed academic smartphone use across five types of applications: medical apps, knowledge updating apps, academic podcast apps, video streaming apps, and social media apps.
resultsA total of 1,590 medical students participated, with 63.6% being women, 21.2% third-year students, and 55.0% from private universities. Nearly all participants (98.4%) owned a mobile phone, and 88.2% used them for academic purposes. The most common academic use was for viewing academic content videos (82.9%). A significant association was found between academic cell phone use and progression through medical studies, with fifth-year students being the most likely to use their phones for academic purposes (OR = 4.517, 95% CI = 1.843-11.075). Students in the clinical stage of education were also more likely to rely on smart phones for academic purposes (OR = 2.090, 95% CI = 1.500-2.911). Conversely, public university students were less likely to use their phones for academic purposes compared to private university students (OR = 0.714, 95% CI = 0.522-0.977). Additionally, students who perceived that their academic preparation would be more difficult without a cell phone were more likely to use it for academic purposes (OR = 2.157, 95% CI = 1.463-3.181).
conclusionsThese results suggest the importance of incorporating smartphones into the educational frameworks of medical schools and universities in Latin America, with a particular emphasis on academic video content applications, which already capture the attention and preference of medical students.
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