Evaluating the Use of a Note-Taking App by Japanese Resident Physicians: Nationwide Cross-Sectional Study
Background: Note-taking is a method that has long been used to optimize studying. Recent innovations have seen the introduction of digital note-taking using software applications (“apps”). Although the current state of digital note-taking has been verified mainly among students, the utilization and efficacy of digital note-taking by physicians in actual clinical practice remain unknown. Therefore, we sought to understand the characteristics of note-taking residents using the app and determine whether there is a difference in basic medical knowledge compared to that of non-digital note-taking residents. Objective: This study investigated the use of a digital note-taking app by Japanese resident physicians. Methods: This analytical cross-sectional study was conducted in resident physicians during the General Medicine In-Training Examination (GM-ITE), a clinical competency examination for resident physicians. GM-ITE is a multiple-choice test with a maximum score of 80 points. Using a structured questionnaire, we collected data on the sociodemographic characteristics (sex, age, postgraduate year, or others), clinical training, GM-ITE scores, and the use of an app for note-taking to record case experience. GM-ITE evaluated the scores by dividing them into four groups (Groups 1–4) in the order from the lowest to highest. We conducted a multivariate analysis of sociodemographic, clinical training, and GM-ITE score variables to determine the independent predictors of the use of a digital note-taking app. Results: The study included 3,883 participants; 1,242 (32.4%) were female, 1,988 (51.8%) were postgraduate year 1 residents, 2,628 (68.6%) were training in a rural area, 3,236 (84.4%) were in community-based hospitals, and 1,750 (45.3%) were App users. The app users were more likely to be in their postgraduate year 2, to work in a community-based hospital, to have general internal medicine rotation experience, to use online medical resources more frequently, and to have more time for self-study. The results showed that the app users group had a higher GM-ITE score than the non-app users group (adjusted odds ratio: 0.74, 95% confidence interval 0.25–1.22, P=0.003). Conclusions: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate note-taking by physicians in Japan using apps. The App users group had a higher GM-ITE score than the non-app users, suggesting that they may have higher clinical skills. In the future, we would like to conduct more in-depth research on the facts of note-taking using apps based on these results.
