Further Research There are plans in place to follow up on the questionnaire results by asking the students to evaluate the value of the instruction, use of PDA and use of the PEPID software after they have completed at least one clerkship rotation. There may also be value in asking them to repeat the post-session questionnaire after at least one clerkship rotation. It may be informative to give the pre-session questionnaire to first year medical students to be able to compare those results with their results in the third year of medical school. In view of differences in mean scores and gain between males and females, it may be useful to track PDA usage and PDA software usage according to gender. Description Third year medical students were required to purchase a PocketPC. PEPID medical reference software was provided to them for use during their third year clerkships. PEPID PRIMARY CARE PLUS software (PCP) for the PDA contains reference information on adult medicine, pediatrics and medication. It is available at It is reviewed and coordinated in partnership with the Family Physicians Inquiries Network or FPIN ( All students were required to attend a two hour, hands-on instruction session on PDAs and the PEPID software. Topics covered in the session were: physical layout of PDAs general PDA functions, e.g. calendar, address book, tasks PDA input via Block Recognizer, Letter Recognizer, Transcriber installation and use of Activesync software for synchronization of data between PDA and PC installation and use of PEPID software for the PDA. The two hour instruction sessions took place in groups of 20, starting every two hours from 8 AM to 6 PM. Students were instructed to bring their PDAs. A computer with Internet access was provided for each student in a session. One instructor lectured with PowerPoint slides, while a second instructor assisted the students with the hands- on exercises. A pre-session questionnaire and post-session questionnaire were given: the first 13 questions asked the students to score themselves on a scale of 1(I dont how to do this) to 7 (I can do this easily) regarding use of a PDA the remaining six questions were yes/no (two questions) or required a fill-in answer. Ninety out of 100 questionnaires were completed and analyzed. The remaining ten were incomplete. The completed questions were received from forty seven males and forty three females. Aim It is generally acknowledged that people in their teens and early twenties are techno-savvy. NEOUCOM third year medical students are required to use PDA software for their clerkships. At the beginning of the academic year, they receive a two hour instruction session on how to install the software and how to use a PDA and PDA software. We questioned the need for the instruction and its length, given the age and attributed computer literacy level of the students. Anecdotal feedback indicated that the session was helpful, but it was hoped that this study would more firmly confirm or negate that point. We also wished to know if some sections of the session were more useful to the students than others. Recalling the conventional wisdom that students are too sleepy after lunch (or in the early morning, or in the late afternoon/early evening) to learn most effectively, we also sought to determine if students learning correlates with time of day. Additionally, we wished to compare male versus female learning. The students were given a pre-session questionnaire and a post-session questionnaire in hopes of achieving these goals. Method The questionnaire responses were analyzed with SPSS Mean scores were calculated on each question in both the pre- and post-session questionnaires for all participants. A paired t-test was performed on the response to examine them for significant differences between pre- and post-session scores. The independent t-test was conducted on the pre-session questionnaires to determine any statistically significant differences between male and female participants. The independent t-test was also conducted on the post-session questionnaires to determine any statistically significant differences between male and female participants. ANOVA was employed to examine whether results would differ significantly according to the time of day of the session. Results The results from the paired t-test on the pre- and post-session mean scores for each question suggests that the students ability and/or comfort level in using a PDA increased for all questions. The score increase was statistically significant for all questions, with p-values from.024 to The results from the independent t-test showed that female mean scores were significantly lower than males on both pre- and post- session questionnaires. However the gain in the females post questionnaires, was greater and this gain is statistically significant, p <.05. Males showed increased questionnaire score means from pre- to post- session for each question. All of the increases were statistically significant, except for question 1 and question 12. Significant p values ranged from.004 to The increase in the females pre- and post-scores was greater than that of the males and statistically significant on all questions with p-values ranging from.04 to.001. The ANOVA results suggest that scores and time of day were not related. Female mean scores were lower than males on both pre- and post- session questionnaires. However, the increase in the females pre and post-scores was greater than that of the males. Discussion The students were quiet and appeared attentive throughout each session. The instructors attempted to streamline the instruction and move at a fairly fast rate to challenge the students and maintain interest. These impressions appear to be borne out by analysis of mean questions scores. The increase in scores from pre-session to post-session for all questions indicates the instruction was of some value to all students on all topics. Mean scores for use of stylus and touch screen (question 1) were not significantly increased for either gender, which may be due to the fact that there was no detailed explanation of this process, only an instruction to input information into the PDA by picking up the stylus and using it with the touch screen. Mean scores for recognition of a USB plug (question 12) increased significantly for females, but not for males, who indicated familiarity with this on the pre-session questionnaire. This instruction will remain in future sessions as it appeared to be helpful to over half the students. All students scores increased for use of the calendar address book Block Recognizer (graffiti) Letter Recognizer (users own printing) Transcriber (handwriting recognition) recording a memo despite the absence of formal procedural demonstrations for these tasks. However students were able to use their PDAs as they observed the instructions for these tasks and appeared to be experimenting with each of applications listed above. These hands-on experiences appear to be of value to the students. The greatest increase in mean scores (2.9 points) for the students occurred for performing a soft and hard reset. Resets are very basic caretaker functions for PDAs and these results along with anecdotal evidence that many students were not aware that continuous power is being drawn from the battery even when the PDA is powered off seems to indicate a lack of knowledge about important PDA basics. (We recognized the battery dilemma when many of them went dead and the students requested our assistance in reinstalling PEPID.) Surprisingly, the increase in mean score for installing Activesync on the PC and PDA was only a little over 1 point on the 7 point scale. This may be due to students familiarity with software installation on a PC. It may be advisable to rephrase the question to include use of Activesync. POST-SESSION questionnaire Last 4 digits of your Banner ID ____________DATE________________________ AM _____ PM ______ Male _______ Female _______ Age Under 20 years_______ years ______ years _______ years _______ over 50 years _______ dont know how to do this I can do this easily 1.Use a stylus on a PDA touch screen Use a calendar on a PDA Use an address book on a PDA Use an installed program (did not come with PDA) Write with Graffiti or Block Recognizer on a PDA Write with Letter Recognizer on a PDA Write with Transcriber on a PDA Record a memo (audio) on a PDA Perform a hard reset on a PDA Perform a soft reset on a PDA Install Activesync Recognize a USB plug PDAs are sometimes called handhelds. Yes ________ No ________ 14.PDA stands for _____________________________________________________________________ 15.The 2 most popular types (not brand names) of PDA are __________________________________________________________________________________ 16.PIM stands for ______________________________________________________________________ 17.I currently own a personal computer. Yes ________ No ________ 18.OVERALL I found this class Helpful _______ Not helpful ________ SUGGESTIONS _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ASSESSMENT OF MEDICAL STUDENT PDA TRAINING ASSESSMENT OF MEDICAL STUDENT PDA TRAINING Rose Guerrieri RN MLIS AHIP, Thomas C. Atwood MS MA, Margarita Kokinova PhD Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine, Rootstown, Ohio Pre-session questions which showed a statistical significance for the difference in mean score between male and female are 2,3,5,6,7,8,9,10,11 1.Use a stylus on a PDA touch screen 2.Use a calendar on a PDA 3.Use an address book on a PDA 4.Use an installed program (did not come with PDA) 5.Write with Graffiti or Block Recognizer on a PDA 6.Write with Letter Recognizer on a PDA 7.Write with Transcriber on a PDA 8.Record a memo (audio) on a PDA 9.Perform a hard reset on a PDA 10.Perform a soft reset on a PDA 11.Install Activesync 12.Recognize a USB plug Post-session questions which showed a statistical significance for the difference in mean score between male and female are 2,7,8,10,11 1.Use a stylus on a PDA touch screen 2.Use a calendar on a PDA 3.Use an address book on a PDA 4.Use an installed program (did not come with PDA) 5.Write with Graffiti or Block Recognizer on a PDA 6.Write with Letter Recognizer on a PDA 7.Write with Transcriber on a PDA 8.Record a memo (audio) on a PDA 9.Perform a hard reset on a PDA 10.Perform a soft reset on a PDA 11.Install Activesync 12.Recognize a USB plug NEOUCOM PRE-SESSION questionnaire Last 4 digits of you Banner ID ____________ DATE________________________ AM _____ PM ______ Male _______ Female _______ Age Under 20 years_______ years ______ years _______ years _______ over 50 years ____ I dont know how to do this i I can do this easily 1.Use a stylus on a PDA touch screen Use a calendar on a PDA Use an address book on a PDA Use an installed program (did not come with PDA) Write with Graffiti or Block Recognizer on a PDA Write with Letter Recognizer on a PDA Write with Transcriber on a PDA Record a memo (audio) on a PDA Perform a hard reset on a PDA Perform a soft reset on a PDA Install Activesync Recognize a USB plug Use Pepid PDAs are sometimes called handhelds. ________ Yes ________ No 15.PDA stands for _____________________________________________________________________ 16.The 2 most popular types (not brand names) of PDA are ___________________________________________________________________ 17.PIM stands for ______________________________________________________________________ 18.What make and model PDA will you use for your clerkship: _______________________________________ 19.Did you buy it specifically for your M3 year? ________ Yes ________ No SUGGESTIONS _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________