Deployed medical professionals often do not have adequate access to medical reference materials. The objective of this study was to determine the feasibility and perceived benefit of providing reference materials in electronic format to deployed personnel. Prototype e-readers were provided to five physicians deploying to Afghanistan over a 6-month period from September 2009 to March 2010. Selected medical textbooks were converted to electronic format and provided to the physicians via the e-readers. The subjects later completed a questionnaire regarding their experience with the e-readers. Physicians with Internet access were able to reliably download additional content to their e-readers while deployed, although downloading was usually slow. Texts were used for a variety of purposes and could be read in most lighting conditions. The e-readers were easy to navigate, but lacked adequate search functions. The e-readers were adequately durable and were easily transported by the individual. Overall, e-textbooks were valuable to the physicians in this study. However, opportunities for improvement include increasing the availability of textbooks in appropriate electronic format, simplifying distribution, and building an index and search functions within e-texts.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.