Want a free iPad?

Well, Stanford, specifically. The Stanford Med School will be distributing iPads to its incoming class of 91(!) first-year medical school and master’s of medicine students during orientation later in August. This comes as part of their trial program to “integrate the mobile device into academics”.

The school’s senior associate dean for medical education, Charles Prober, MD, says, “We want to explore the use of iPads and other technologies to help students access the enormous amount of medical knowledge that is being produced constantly. Part of the challenge facing medical students, and all doctors, is the overwhelming amount of information. Devices like the iPad may be able to help users access that pool of knowledge.” (And it’s also just awesome.)

The 3.5% increase in med school tuition is also starting to make just a little more sense…