Smartphones as multimodal communication devices to facilitate clinical knowledge processes: randomized controlled...

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Medical Informatics
• Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

• Limited evidence exists on smartphone utility for interclinician communication and knowledge transfer.
• Advancements in mobile technology offer potential for enhanced medical communication.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of different smartphone communication modes (speech only, speech and images, speech, images, and annotation) on medical knowledge recall and transfer.
• To determine the effectiveness of guided noticing (speech, images, annotation) in medical education.

Main Methods:

• 42 medical students analyzed a standardized case using smartphone consultations with a remote specialist.
• Participants were randomly assigned to three groups: speech only, speech and images, or speech, images, and image annotation.
• Knowledge recall was assessed via case summaries and image re-analysis; knowledge transfer was evaluated using a similar, novel case.

Main Results:

• Participants rated support more positively when images were used (groups 2 and 3) compared to speech only (group 1).
• Significant improvements in recall and transfer of visually represented knowledge were observed only with speech, images, and annotation (group 3).
• No significant differences were found in verbally represented knowledge recall across groups.

Conclusions:

• Annotation features in mobile technology are valuable for interclinician communication and medical informatics.
• Guided noticing, integrating speech, images, and annotation, significantly enhances learning of visually represented medical knowledge.
• This approach is particularly beneficial for complex visual information common in clinical practice.