[Jmmmmm]

Of all the electronic stuff I have immersed myself in, I've never been able to get into PDAs. I've tried, but to no avail. Perhaps it's because I'm lazy and unorganized, and I don't even use a calendar as it is....but anyway

I know there are several types of PDAs, but that's about as far as my knowledge goes. In third and 4th yrs, many people recommend getting a PDA for various reasons, mostly so you don't have to carry around the huge PDR, and I think you can get things that allow patient's charts to be stored and updated, and whatnot. Probably other important things as well. I don't really know if some would be better than others for that, or if all would suffice.

Does anyone with experience with this recommend a certain pda or brand for this type of usage? I don't need the ability to play games or anything like that. Is a color screen necessary? What about adding memory cards? Is memory lacking on some/most/all pdas? What are the options? A general guide to pdas would be helpful too...all the ones I've found have been from around 1995..

Please almighty pda experts, tell me what I need to know.

 

[usc goose]

For what it's worth, my roommate is a third year med student. He doesn't have a PDA and does fine without one. I'm a second year med student and I doubt I'll get one either for the wards. As for the PDR, I'm sure you know about the pocket pharmacopeia.

Anyways, that's just the take in this household.

 

[oneeyedhobbit]

Not to thread jack, but as an aspiring med student would either of you (and any other readers) care to give me some insight on what will really set me apart on a med school app? How bad is getting in, really? Whats it like once your there? I've heard horror stories about med school and your residency being a hellish existence...true?

 

[hubcaps]

my sister is a 3rd year and she says she doesn't really need it, but it does make life easier. maybe it depends on your med school and where you do your rotation. she used a m500 until it broke. i think it is pretty much a matter of preference. her friend gave her an old clie and she is fine with it. as long as the pda can run the programs you want. she likes the older ones because they are simpler (no camera, color, mp3 player, etc.)

 

[jpelg]

My brother is an ER physician, and has tried using a couple of PDA's over the years. In the end he says that they are not all that useful while actually working. Too slow, too cumbersome. He can do all the necessary calculations (dosages, etc.) in his head far more quickly (ER remember?), and any research he needs can be done on one of the nearby hospital PC/terminals.

 

[cupples]

I'm a final year med student (three months to go!!!) and I've used a Palm M130 and lately a Tungsten T for my work. They've both been really useful. I have a medical formulary (the BNF) stored on mine, alleviating the need for a bulky book, and in a few weeks' time the a new PDA version of the Oxford Handbook of Clinical Medicine will be released for about UKP20, which I shall definitely be getting! Then I will no longer need to carry ANY books with me!

I would definitely recommend Palms, firstly because of the wealth of free medical software available out there. A couple of good ones are the Medical Mnemonics database, and MedCalc. Secondly, the operating system doesn't change as much as with Windows-based PDAs, and there's a certain a mount of backwards-compatibility. Thirdly, you can get an original Tungsten T for UKP50, stick a 512Mb memory card in it for another UKP25, join up your headphones and listen to your MP3s. I would recommend getting a memory card, they're cheap, and medical programs can be quite large. The Bluetooth function is also incredibly handy! I use my Tungsten as a remote control for my Mac! The Documents to Go software included with Palms allows you to read and write Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents. I use it to keep a list of my record collection, so I know which ones I've already got when I'm out browsing the shops.

While a PDA definitely isn't essential for medical students, it's very handy. Sooner or later you're going to have to start being organised, and this is a great way to do it. You can use the Memo pad to take notes from lectures, use the To Do button to organise your duties on the ward, and use the Organiser bit to remind you where you should be.

Oneeyedhobbit - this may not be relevant to you, cos I'm in the UK... Med schools are looking for a well-rounded person, not just a walking brain, so make sure you have extra-curricular activities. They also like to see someone who can work as part of a team, so team sports are good. Volunteering of some description looks good, especially in a medical area. Make sure that someone reads your application before you send it and edits it for grammar and spelling! I've spent seven years at medical school, and it's been fun. Any bad experiences have been largely my own fault. It's not as hard as people make it out to be, and you will have time off. Use the first couple of years to do your extra-curricular activities, and then start to focus on the medicine. And remember that everyone at some point during studying feels like giving up! But keep working through it, the end result will be worth it! (at least that's what everyone keeps telling me

)
All the best,
Andrew

 

[plainsong]

Convergence devices are where it's at. There's lots of ppc software out there for med students and doctors... but if you want you can have a device that's smaller than an ipod, and works as a phone as well. I'd recommend something based on the HTC Magician - like the iMate Jam - http://www.expansys.com/product.asp?code=I-MATE_JAM - yeah I have one and it's much smaller than the huge vga brick device my husband has, the iPaq hx4700. Although he's getting more screen resolution and a faster processor and more memory.

If you'd like to pretty-up your today screen, get programs such as Wisbar Advanced, weatherpanel, pocketbreeze, and Spb pocket plus. Install those programs and use skins like this - non-vga version of this one coming soon, I'm testing it out now. For pocketpc fans out there who like to use skins, Juni's my husband.

I fail to see the relevance anymore of Palm devices (coming from someone who's owned the IIIe, IIIc, Tungsten T, Sony 770c). People always point to the vast amount of software. But Windows 3.11 for workgroups also has a vast amount of software written for it.

 

[Jasper994]

I don't know about while you're in school... As others have mentioned, there are definately reference tools available to you.

Once you're done, you may consider using one that incorporates with your billing software. For example I know Medilync works with MediSoft and will allow you to enter in patient data as well as ICD-9 and cpt codes. It's a little slow and cumbersome but it alleviates redundant entry.

If you are entering data into the PDA make sure you have a flash memory card to back up to. If the damn thing locks up and needs to be reset you don't want to lose all your data.

 

[Zanth]

I use the T3 which works very very well. Though I am not an MD, I work with them daily and we all use the T3 and Epocrates is the fan favourite piece of software at the moment. Palm is coming out with a new device shortly so perhaps you would want to hold out for that one. I believe it will have onboard Blue Tooth, Wifi and be a phone. very cool.

 

[mjg]

my cuz is a pediatrist.

He's got one of those newer zire's with a camera and such built in, i'm pretty sure it's pretty standard where he works.

 

[Shizelbs]

Dearest med students. Don't forget to ask your friendly pharmacists if you can. They have all sorts of fun little nuggets of info that you can't get from the PDAs.

For a straight drug refences, I love Lexi-Comp. Its about $75 for just the drugs.

 

[Iron_Dreamer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jasper994 I don't know about while you're in school... As others have mentioned, there are definately reference tools available to you. Once you're done, you may consider using one that incorporates with your billing software. For example I know Medilync works with MediSoft and will allow you to enter in patient data as well as ICD-9 and cpt codes. It's a little slow and cumbersome but it alleviates redundant entry. If you are entering data into the PDA make sure you have a flash memory card to back up to. If the damn thing locks up and needs to be reset you don't want to lose all your data.

And make sure to have it surgically attached to yourself so it won't get up and walk away, right?

 

[ns6490]

Get a Palm with a large, ie 320x480 screen. I find my PDA indispensable. It's like an ectopic brain. Incidentally, there's a site called ectopic brain with links to med software for Palms. On my PDA, I have Netter, Stedman's, a derm atlas with photos, and a handful of handbooks and reference programs (5 min clinical consult, wash manual, a2z drugs etc). The one program I find really useful is outlines in clinical medicine, which is pretty much the preclinical years of med school distilled into an outline format.


Quote:

Originally Posted by Jmmmmm Of all the electronic stuff I have immersed myself in, I've never been able to get into PDAs. I've tried, but to no avail. Perhaps it's because I'm lazy and unorganized, and I don't even use a calendar as it is....but anyway I know there are several types of PDAs, but that's about as far as my knowledge goes. In third and 4th yrs, many people recommend getting a PDA for various reasons, mostly so you don't have to carry around the huge PDR, and I think you can get things that allow patient's charts to be stored and updated, and whatnot. Probably other important things as well. I don't really know if some would be better than others for that, or if all would suffice. Does anyone with experience with this recommend a certain pda or brand for this type of usage? I don't need the ability to play games or anything like that. Is a color screen necessary? What about adding memory cards? Is memory lacking on some/most/all pdas? What are the options? A general guide to pdas would be helpful too...all the ones I've found have been from around 1995.. Please almighty pda experts, tell me what I need to know.

 

[Jmmmmm]

Alright, thanks for the suggestions. So I was looking at the following.

Dell Axim x50 - $420 (seems overkill and expensive)
Dell Axim x30 - $200 (seems underkill and lower quality screen, but has wifi and bluetooth, but is cheap)
Tungsten T5 - $320 (looks really good and 256mb, but no wifi, if that's important)
Sony Clie th55 - $330 refurbished...$600+ new (seems to have a bunch of special stuff, but why so expensive???)
ipaq hx2415 - $380 (nice, fast and geared for work as opposed to cameras and other crap like that - but expensive)
Ipaq rx3115 - $320 (more 'fun' oriented, but cheaper)

Pretty much the only thing I was looking at was the screen and syncing capabilities. I would like to keep it under $300, but I'm obviously pushing that..but that means anything much over that is not so good.

Can anyone recommend or warn me about any of these? This is what pcworld lists as the top 10
Any other suggestions or reasons why one is better than another, or features that might be necessary? If you guys could help me cut down the list, then I can research a couple to make a decision.
Also, pretty much all of these are offered refurbished for a good bit less, but I don't know if this is the type of thing that is good to buy refurbished. I've bought both my laptops refurbished and they've been great...do you think it's an option here?

I think I'm slightly leaning towards the tungsten 5, but that might be just because it was the first one I looked at...

Also, does PDA technology change as quickly as computer tech? In 3 years is this thing going to be worthless? If I could use it for a while, then I would get it now, but it probably won't get its heaviest use for a little while. The only other reason to get it now is that I have some extra money to spend on it, which is rare and probably won't happen again for a long time.

 

[JeffL]

I have the Dell Axim X50v. It is a great little PDA. Very useful, but if you want simplicity and don't need the multimedia capability, a PalmOS device is far more useful. The older devices are still quite capable, but are multimedia limited. Newer software apps may not have support for the older OSes because of recent changes to the core, but a new device is quite capable.

Quote:

Also, does PDA technology change as quickly as computer tech?

IMO, PDA Technology has changed even more rapidly than computer tech, namely because of the lack of innovation that has suddenly spurted. 3 years is a long time for any hardware, but a Palm device from 3 years as of today is still quite useful, especially if you don't need the latest and greatest.

As I'm not a med student, I'm not sure what the software is like that you'd be using, but if you want decent PIM functionality, an older device is just as good as a new one. The basic elements haven't changed much.