Ryan Adams, M.D., future diagnostic radiology resident and graduate of the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine (VUSM), recently earned a second place award from the Vanderbilt Institute for Digital Learning (VIDL) for the development of his project, “iPads in the Anatomy Laboratory.”
Adams, along with fellow VUSM graduate Jared Shenson, M.D., developed the project as third-year medical students in an effort to better incorporate technology into medical education, particularly during the preclinical stages of medical school.
“A few schools have led the charge for iPad integration for note-taking and resource distribution in the last few years, but few have ventured deeply into iPad use in the anatomy laboratory,” said Adams. “With Vanderbilt being a forerunner in many aspects of medical education, chiefly student wellness and curricular change, we thought, ‘Why not also educational technology?’”
Together, Adams and Shenson developed a pilot for the use of student iPads in the anatomy laboratory, worked with laboratory directors and IT to design and install the software, and surveyed students on the results. The overwhelmingly positive survey data was then presented to VUSM leadership who approved of fully funded implementation of iPads in the anatomy laboratory.
In its second year of implementation, the use of the iPads in the laboratory evolved to provide students with improved technology, including new iPads and wireless monitors, for a more intuitive, immersive learning experience while at the dissection table.
“The use of iPads at Vanderbilt is truly revolutionary, and no other institution provides such technological integration with anatomical learning,” added Adams. “I’m so proud of what our project has evolved into, and I’m elated that students in their first year of medical school will be able to use amazing technology to help them learn the critical pieces of knowledge they will use for the rest of their career.”
As a more tech-savvy generation prepares to enter the medical education system, Adams and Shenson hope students will continue to utilize the program to its full extent, and will refine and improve the program to meet their educational needs.
The full story, announcing additional VIDL awards recipients and their projects, can be read on MyVU.
