The doctors in residency programs today might be more inclined to use iPads for educational purposes, and as a result, less likely to use the iPad for personal reasons, according to a small study conducted by Tulane University School of Medicine clinical research coordinator Marcia B. Henry. Because of the small sample of residents included in the study, the results might not point to a broader trend in the way this group will use iPads.

“Millennial learners are more tech savvy and prefer a variety of active learning methods,” Henry said. “Based on these characteristics, we need to incorporate new teaching strategies and develop curricula using more multimedia and Internet sources.”

Henry's study involved 22 residents who were given iPads using textbook funds and asked an eight question survey one month and six months into the research period. All survey questions were answered anonymously. After the study was completed, researchers found that almost all the residents were using the iPads for educational purposes and that the amount of time these residents used iPads for personal means decreased by half after six months of use.

Moving forward, researchers from Tulane's iPad study recommend residents' curricula be updated to include multimedia, social media and internet learning features.

Two years ago, CIO of CareGroup Healthcare System Dr. John Halamka addressed a similar topic --  doctors using work iPads for personal reasons, but found using iPads in a professional context doesn't necessarily decrease personal use. At the time, Halamka was planning on testing ways to decrease the risk of distraction that doctors may experience at the hospital when dealing with tablets.

“We are investigating technologies to segregate personal and patient functions in a given device," he said at the time. "We are also investigating the possibility of providing mobile devices to healthcare workers that can be checked out for a shift. To try to reduce security and distraction risks, we will pilot test several new policies such as restricting access to personal email and social networking sites.”

Halamka also mentioned another study conducted around the same time of residents using smartphones found that while adoption of smartphones improved efficiency over the use of pagers, it also led to issues of increased interruptions, a gap in perceived urgency, and weakened interprofessional relationships.