The Satisfaction of Using an Oral Pathology Mobile Application (PathoPal) in Dental Students

The objective of this study was to develop the oral pathology mobile application (PathoPal) to support dental students' learning process and to identify satisfaction of dental students in using the mobile application. Participants were the third- and fifth- year dental students (193 students) at Faculty of Dentistry, Chulalongkorn University. Students were given one week to use the application then their satisfaction in using the application were gathered via a questionnaire survey. Of 193 participants, 60 percent were satisfied with the application. When compared with textbooks, the most significant advantage was the convenience of use and the speed of data processing in identifying pathological information. Students reported that the application was more accessible than textbooks resulting in their learning process became more effective. In conclusion, the PathoPal application can be helpful for inexperienced dental students as it provides tentative differential diagnoses of all possible oral pathologic diseases supporting learning and clinical reasoning skills.