Leeds uni gives students text books on iPhones

If you’re a medical student at the university of Leeds who is fond of gadgetry, then you’re in luck, as the educational establishment has decided on a new way to give out text books.

The uni is giving – well, loaning – some 500 students an iPhone, so they can access reference sources and text books online.

A report on Electricpig.co.uk makes it clear that the phones are only given to more advanced fourth or fifth years students, mind you. And they don’t get the latest iPhone either, just the 3GS model.

Because these students spend time out and about away from campus, the theory is that this gives them easily accessible material such as reference books and prescription guidelines to hand. Of course, the iPhone can also be used as a stethoscope these days, thanks to an app developed by Peter Bentley of the University College London.

The iPhone then, it would seem, is a bit of a medical marvel. Although the next time you shout for a doctor in the house, you might find he doesn’t hear you, because he’s too engrossed in Angry Birds.