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 性视界传媒 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�

Those features appeal to 鈥渕illennial-aged鈥� learners like 性视界传媒 medical students, who prefer group learning that鈥檚 interactive and provides frequent feedback, rather than passive lecture-based learning.

A company named Inkling has spent the last year developing electronic textbooks and is working closely with the College of Medicine. At a recent presentation to students and faculty members, Inkling representative Eric Petit explained that textbooks are boring, heavy and expensive, and that students studying from computers have many advantages over those studying on printed pages. With E-books, students can interact with the material rather than study in isolation. And Inkling鈥檚 system uses social networking so students can share notes and receive faculty instructions and feedback right on their fingertips.

End-of-chapter quizzes help test the student鈥檚 retention of material 鈥� and offer additional explanation of why an answer is wrong. E-textbooks include three-dimensional, animated drawings and give a student the ability to hide labels on those drawings, fill them out and test their knowledge. The books also contain video presentations of topics such as physical exams and patient interviews.

E-textbooks also have a bottom line advantage. Students can purchase specific chapters of a medical textbook that a faculty member assigns for $1.99 to $6.99 a chapter, rather than having to buy the entire book.

This year, the Harriett F. Ginsburg Health Sciences Library purchased E-textbooks for students. Petit said the 性视界传媒 College of Medicine is one of just four medical schools nationwide that is a leader in embracing interactive learning. The others are Stanford, Brown and University of California-Irvine.

鈥淭his is instant information at the point of care,鈥� said library director Nadine Dexter, a proponent of interactive learning who oversees a library that is 98 percent digital. 鈥淢edicine is exploding with information. This new way of providing information to our students is stunning, engaging and exciting.鈥�

A 聽College of Medicine team presented one poster on the use of technology to improve patient safety. Dr. Bethany Ballinger, an Orlando emergency physician and assistant professor of emergency medicine and clinical informatics, Nadine Dexter, director of the Harriet F. Ginsburg Health Sciences Library, and Dr. Mariana Dangiolo, professor of family medicine, highlighted the college鈥檚 use of iPod touches. The hand-held devices contain Epocrates, a drug database of over 3,300 drugs. The poster explained how medical students use their iPods to identify potentially dangerous drug interactions for patients they see during their training with local doctors. In addition, College of Medicine students use Geriatrics at Your Fingertips software on mobile devices as they work with senior patients.

Another AAMC poster, co-authored by Dr. Ballinger, showed how the College of Medicine became the first American medical school to initiate the World Health Organization鈥檚 (WHO) patient safety curriculum. The WHO identifies 11 areas that are key to improving patient safety, including infection control, surgery, medication and practical ways to analyze how mistakes are made.

Patient safety is one of the College of Medicine鈥檚 Longitudinal Curricular Themes (LCTs), interdisciplinary topics interwoven into the four-year curriculum. And the college鈥檚 message at the AAMC was that topics like patient safety must be emphasized at every turn.

鈥淪afety is such an important thread in the curriculum,鈥� said Dr. Ballinger said, who is director of the patient safety LCT. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 just have a course on patient safety for three days and then be done with it. Patient safety must be a part of everything you do.鈥�

性视界传媒 College of Medicine students received a high-tech gift for their Christmas stockings Wednesday as local philanthropist Alan Ginsburg gave new iPads to each of the school鈥檚 100 M.D. students. The hand-held electronic devices will allow students to take notes, review on-line scientific journals and 3-D medical imaging, and even take paperless exams. And students鈥� use of the iPad will be part of a two-year research study on the use of technology in medical education.

Students cheered as Dr. Deborah German, vice president for medical affairs and dean of the College of Medicine, announced the gift. During the past few days, rumors were circulating about the possibility of an iPad holiday gift for the medical students. 鈥淏ut we didn鈥檛 want to get our hopes up and then be disappointed if the gift ended up being chocolate,鈥� said M-1 student Alvin deTorres. Alvin said he was delighted with the portable technology because it will provide immediate access to the college鈥檚 Harriett F. Ginsburg Health Sciences Library, which is 98 percent digital.

Nadine Dexter, library director, told students that the iPads were a 鈥済ift of love鈥� from Ginsburg, who thought they would be a fitting tribute to his wife鈥檚 love of reading and learning. 鈥淲ith the iPads, you have information in an 鈥榓nytime, anywhere鈥� environment,鈥� she said. The Ginsburg family鈥檚 earlier donation of $4 million created the 性视界传媒 College of Medicine鈥檚 library. 鈥淲e are delighted to be part of the 性视界传媒 College of Medicine and the way it is training doctors for the 21st century continues to exceed our highest expectations,鈥� Ginsburg said. 鈥淲e hope this gift provides one more way for the students to develop the skills they need to take care of us all.鈥�

iPads offer several learning advantages for medical students: They can download PowerPoints from class lectures and type notes directly on the presentation. The device鈥檚 imaging provides what Dexter described as 鈥渆xquisite鈥� 3-D images of systems such as the brain and vertebrae, and the large screen allows students to have electronic journals, books and databases at their fingertips.

M-1 student Marcos Colon said he had just told his father last week that he intended to steal Dad鈥檚 iPad over winter break to help with his medical school studies. 鈥淣ow I don鈥檛 have to steal his,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 have one of my own.鈥�

NN/LM’s mission is to “advance the progress of medicine and improve the public health by providing all U.S. health professionals with equal access to biomedical information and improving the public’s access to information to enable them to make informed decisions about their health.”

“Being selected as a resource library is an honor,” said Nadine Dexter, director of the Harriet F. Ginsburg Health Sciences Library. “It says the NN/LM feels we have the professional staff, the training and the resources to fulfill the duties of a resource library.”

Resource libraries provide doctors and patients with the most current research, journal articles, audiovisual materials, literature and patient treatment protocols. They coordinate and share resources with other area libraries so they can tell physicians almost instantly what materials are available in the region. “By working together in a network, we can act as a giant card catalog,” Nadine said. In addition to helping doctors who are on staff at colleges of medicine, resource libraries also provide sole practitioners with vital information through a “Lonesome Doc” reference program.

Providing current and trusted data is key for the library staff. “We want the library to be a comfortable, accessible and user-friendly place,” Nadine said. “We want to provide a well-trained staff who are subject matter experts on all the information that clinicians, researchers, students and faculty need.”

For more: Wendy Spirduso Sarubbi,聽性视界传媒 College of Medicine Information/Publication Services, 407-823-0233 or聽wsarubbi@mail.ucf.edu