PDA Software

[Lebesgue]

I just got a PDA and now I need some software. I already did a search and found some info, but software changes weekly, so what do you all out there in MS III/IV land recommend in terms of utility vs price?

I'm an MS II.5

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

[Mike59]

IMHO, these are the essentials:

1) A medical dictionary- some also have nice explanations of what a disease is (instead of just a definition), so they are more like a mini-encyclopedia (Dorland's, Stedman's, Taber's)...

2) Some medical reference - Good for reviewing the pathophys, symptoms, treatment of common diseases you'll encounter (5min Clin Consult, Wash manual, pocket cecil's)

3) A Rx program - the pocket mini-Tarascon is still king (proven by med student "quick draws") but it's nice to have something on your PDA- go with Epocrates (free) or Dr. Drugs

I wouldn't waste money on anything other than one program from each category above. Hope that helps..

[Lebesgue]

That helps, thanks!

Anyone else?

[Monika]

Great suggestions..PA student here in my clinical year, thought I'd offer a couple of suggestions.

Free downloads:
1) Archimedes (for medical calculations like celsius to farenheit, creatinine clearance, drug dosing, BMI, lbs. to kgs, etc)
2) Diagnosaurus: for a quick list of differentials by sign/symptoms

Not free:
3) ABC2LabData: has come in handy for lab info, tests, etc.

Good website for products:
www.skyscape.com

Good luck!
M

[Hawk22]

Echoing many of the above comments, I highly recommend:

1. Epocrates--I just use the free version and its great. I don't know anyone who has the more expensive program, so I can't make a recommendation either way on it.

2. Diagnosauras-- A great free program with lots of useful differential diagnoses.

3. 5 Minute Clinical Consult-- VERY, VERY useful and wel worth the money. It has saved me many times when I could quickly look up a disease and then be pimped on it a minute later. Its just enough information to really be helpful without giving you too little or too much.

[NateatUC]

I'll add a few:

1. Eponyms - ever wonder what Bing's sign is? It'll tell you about that, and anything else that's ever been named after anyone!

2. Medical Calculator: MedCalc - has lots of formulas for calculating lots of stuff.

And for specific rotations:

3. An OB Wheel is a must - you'll use it all the time on OB/GYN. There are bunch of different free ones out there.

4. Stat Growthcharts: a program that will calculate a kid's place on the CDC growth charts. Nice to have on peds.

5. Shots 2004 - the recommened immunization schedule, in diagram form, also has info about the different vaccines. Again useful for peds.

And all of these are totally FREE.

[mfrederi]

The free johns hopkins Abx guide. It is great. Cross referenced by bug, drug, and diagnosis. It is great, wish they had one with all the meds.

[Heeed!]

I have Dorland's, Griffith's 5MCC, ABC Labdata, and Archimedes. Good for M's2.5.

[grayce79]

I love my PDA!

Here's what programs I've bought so far:

1) epocrates pro - love it, can't live without it!

2)5mcc - love it! Makes you look like a star! It gives you symptoms, epidem, differential dx, studies to order, treatments, etc. Well worth the mula.

3)5mcc peds - just as good, but more expensive and you only end up really using it when you are on peds. I recommend this if you were actually going into peds.

4)Surgical Recall - nice to have this whenever you need it on surgery, but this program ran very slooow on my pda!

5)Stedmans - love it, can't live without it

I also have some freeware like handyref, but I hardly ever use it.

[Lebesgue]

Hey everyone who chimed in...

Thanks a bunch! I just got my PDA and I love it. I also just finished up path and have my micro shelf tomorrow... PDA, micro, PDA, micro, PDA...

Anyway, I'm going to go with many of your suggestions. Looking forward to next semester, and moreover, the third year! My butt can't take much more of classroom work.

Thanks again.

[surge]

So here's a question: do most of you use Palm OS or Pocket PC based PDAs? And are most of these programs available for one or the other or both? Thanks.

[JunkintheTrunk]

i just downloaded the PDR from their website (www.pdr.net ...FREE )....even though i'm only an MS-I, i use it a ton for our cases, and i'm sure it will come in handy later too

[phoenixsupra]

Originally Posted by Mike59

IMHO, these are the essentials:

1) A medical dictionary- some also have nice explanations of what a disease is (instead of just a definition), so they are more like a mini-encyclopedia (Dorland's, Stedman's, Taber's)...

2) Some medical reference - Good for reviewing the pathophys, symptoms, treatment of common diseases you'll encounter (5min Clin Consult, Wash manual, pocket cecil's)

3) A Rx program - the pocket mini-Tarascon is still king (proven by med student "quick draws") but it's nice to have something on your PDA- go with Epocrates (free) or Dr. Drugs

I wouldn't waste money on anything other than one program from each category above. Hope that helps..

Where can I get stuff like this FOR FREE? Especially the dictionary and the eponyms. I have the medcalc and the cheepie epoc. They're not worth snot. I almost never use them. I need PDA goodies but I don't have a single spare been? What can I do? I don't give a toss about IP laws BTW.

[Howard Roark]

DRUGS

epocrates click

micromedex click

mobilePDR click

sanford guide (free beta) click

MEDICAL CALCULATORS

archimedes click

DIFFERENTIAL DIAGNOSIS

diagnosaurus click

DIAGNOSIS/THERAPY

merck manual & pocket guide to diagnostic tests click

LINKS TO LINKS

tulane click

pocketpcsoft.net click

pocketpcfreewares.com click

EPONYMS

eponyms click

OFFICE-TYPE STUFF

ia presenter (powerpoint) (trial) click

overdrive (create e-books) click

adobe reader click

iSilo click

FLASH_IT

flash_it (not free) click

flash_it study guides (free) click

ISILO

iSilo (trial) click

iSilo Medical Documents (free) click

EMULATION (GAMES)

nintendo NES (free) click

atart 2600 (free) click

various emulation (free) click

.

[phoenixsupra]

Thanks, but what I want is a dictionary and eponym program.....for free.

[phoenixsupra]

Originally Posted by medicalstudent9

http://eponyms.net/eponyms.htm

never used it. no idea if good or not.

Awesome, now if I can get a dictionary, I'm sorted.

[Larry Renal]

Try:

http://www.md-do.org/palm_files.htm

It's also got some other good palm information, and there are some other nice pages on there particularly for the DO student.

lar

Ps. the Hopkins antibiotic guide is VERY good.

[jwin]

someone attempted to ask this question in the pda software thread but didn't get a response. i am an ms2.5 and we have to have a pda when 3rd year starts. what do you guys think are the best palm os pda's and what are the best pocket pc's? thanks.

[Entei]

This will probably get bumped to the technology forum, but...

I used to be a big fan of Palm PDAs, but this year Santa's bringing me an Axim x50v for Christmas. Pocket PCs are ridiculously powerful now; some are like mini-laptops with Wi-Fi and VGA screens and 600+mhz processors. Palms are still like toys though, especially now that PalmOne doesn't have much competition anymore. (They're pretty much the only company still making Palm PDAs now that Sony dropped out of the US market.) The most powerful Palm right now is the Tungsten T5, and it doesn't even have built-in Wi-Fi. Sure, you don't really need any of these cool features if all you want is to carry around a digital medical dictionary, but if you want to know the most powerful PDA, there's no question that it's a PPC . PPCs can even emulate the PSX! Palm won't be able to do that for another... maybe 20 years or so.

[doc05]

as an ms4, I can tell you I used my palm about 4 times throughout all of my ms3 year. it's utterly useless; save your money for residency interviews.

[jwin]

thanks entei, awesome post. if anyone else can say what pda they have and if they like it, i'd appreciate it.

[Mirror Form]

Originally Posted by doc05

as an ms4, I can tell you I used my palm about 4 times throughout all of my ms3 year. it's utterly useless; save your money for residency interviews.

My palm has been incredibley useful to me. It's a great medical resource (especially if you have the skyscape crack). And also a great information organizer; much better then my old dork book I used in college. And then there are the games!

[Mirror Form]

Originally Posted by Entei

This will probably get bumped to the technology forum, but...

I used to be a big fan of Palm PDAs, but this year Santa's bringing me an Axim x50v for Christmas. Pocket PCs are ridiculously powerful now; some are like mini-laptops with Wi-Fi and VGA screens and 600+mhz processors. Palms are still like toys though, especially now that PalmOne doesn't have much competition anymore. (They're pretty much the only company still making Palm PDAs now that Sony dropped out of the US market.) The most powerful Palm right now is the Tungsten T5, and it doesn't even have built-in Wi-Fi. Sure, you don't really need any of these cool features if all you want is to carry around a digital medical dictionary, but if you want to know the most powerful PDA, there's no question that it's a PPC . PPCs can even emulate the PSX! Palm won't be able to do that for another... maybe 20 years or so.

I agree that pocket pc's are probably better then pda's now. However, there is no skyscape crack available for pocket pc's. So if you're the techy type person that will put the time in to figure out how to follow basic steps in a tutorial for cracking the skyscape programs, pda's are the way to go. Otherwise, have fun using crappy free software or paying 80 bucks for every good program. Meanwhile my pda has A2Zdrugs (blows epocrates away), MedTests, HbDxTests, WU Int serv guide, Wash man 3.1, med recall, surg recall, usmle 1 secrets, usmle 2 secrets, 5 minute clincal consult, 5 min id consult, ferri guide, IM on Call, and steadman's complete med dictionary all for FREE. Plus, everytime you do a rotation you can download the skyscape programs specific to that rotation that you'd never buy otherwise. For example, on my last obgyn rotation I downloaded obgyn recall, JHUObgyn, Pocket Obgyn, and Wash U Obgyn.

As soon as I stop taking out huge loans and get an income next year I'll stop hacking and buy the most useful programs (STEADMANS, a2zdrugs, and 5mcc). Plus I'll probably also buy a couple other programs specific to my specialty. But as students, I don't think it's that morally wrong to not pay for downloaded programs, especially if you're only going to be needing them for 4 weeks during your rotation.

[Trisomy13]

Originally Posted by phoenixsupra

Where can I get stuff like this FOR FREE? Especially the dictionary and the eponyms. I have the medcalc and the cheepie epoc. They're not worth snot. I almost never use them. I need PDA goodies but I don't have a single spare been? What can I do? I don't give a toss about IP laws BTW.

most schools have at least one student with a friend of a friend of a friend who has the Skyscape products cracked and free on a cd. Find this person, beg for the cd... hundreds or thousands of dollars worth of software for free. i doubt this is legal, and therefore can't recommend it, but *cough* *cough*


out of curiosity i searched for 'skyscape' on ebay and found someone selling such a cd. i would hesitate to go this route, due to aforementioned legal doubts, but the premise is the same.



and get a nice fast Palm OS system and you won't have any problems with any programs running slow

[drchris33]

Lebesque-
I sent you a PM.

[ussdfiant]

Does anyone have/used the Netter flash cards for the PDA? As I start my surgery rotation I thought it might be useful to have a reference for relevant anatomy. Second question, does anyone know where I can get it for free? On the Netter site it costs about $50 and I'm only willing to pay that if I have to!

[tennik]

I was told a free Netter for PDA is in a Yahoo share room. I know nothin more.

[ussdfiant]

Originally Posted by tennik

I was told a free Netter for PDA is in a Yahoo share room. I know nothin more.

What is a Yahoo share room?

[AnnaMags]

Does anyone know of a free program with ICD-9 codes. I hear that Epocrates has this but I like Clinical Pharmacology OnHand better so I'd rather get a freestanding program. Thanks a lot!

[Winged Scapula]

Merging with other PDA thread...

[ericdamiansean]

Originally Posted by tennik

I was told a free Netter for PDA is in a Yahoo share room. I know nothin more.

that one doesn't work...I've netter's in Isilo form...80 megs

[Heeed!]

Originally Posted by AnnaMags

Does anyone know of a free program with ICD-9 codes. I hear that Epocrates has this but I like Clinical Pharmacology OnHand better so I'd rather get a freestanding program. Thanks a lot!

I just bought G5MCC from Skyscape and they sent me a program w/ the ICD-9 codes for free.

[csmith1]

Any opinions on the full deal Epocrates Essentials? Website says that the Dx portion is resourced from 5MCC. Does that mean that Dx and G5MCC are comparable?

[joshua_msu]

Originally Posted by Sledge2005

My palm has been incredibley useful to me. It's a great medical resource (especially if you have the skyscape crack). And also a great information organizer; much better then my old dork book I used in college. And then there are the games!

What is this skyscape crack? Someone told me to search ebay for it, but I coulndt find anything.

[heldicus]

Originally Posted by Sledge2005

However, there is no skyscape crack available for pocket pc's.

Blatant falsehood. Although I do not recommend the use of cracked software on a PDA...you can corrupt your handheld's registry.

[Mirror Form]

Originally Posted by heldicus

Blatant falsehood.

No actually it's the truth.

[QUOTE=heldicus
Although I do not recommend the use of cracked software on a PDA...you can corrupt your handheld's registry.[/QUOTE]

Maybe if you're retarded and don't use it right. Regardless, it's fairly easy to back up your memory before installing and then hard reset if a problem occurs.

[tempressDO]

I've been using the Skyscape and Isilo cracked programs for a year now. I can confirm they exist. However, they never seemed to work exactly right. I was using cracked copies of G5MCC and Dorland's. When I'd select a particular condition, many times I would get a completely different word, or nothing at all, etc. I did the ol' hard reset and finally broke down, paid for the real 5MCC, Tabers, etc. and now my tricked-out pocket PC works like a champ! A friend of mine still uses the cracked programs w/o difficulty, though.

[heldicus]

Originally Posted by Sledge2005

No actually it's the truth.

Whatever you say. For everyone else that's interested you may consider alt.binaries.warez.pocketpc

Maybe if you're retarded and don't use it right. Regardless, it's fairly easy to back up your memory before installing and then hard reset if a problem occurs.

You also think that "Pocket PCs" are different from "PDAs" according to your above post.

[maqsur]

just use a keygen for skyscape... no need to crack it. you can download all the trial software you want for free from skyscape (just register and make a free account), and then after loading onto your pda, use the keygen on your pc to generate a serial number, enter this into the palm when you load the program, and voila, it's unlocked. i got the keygen from a friend, but believe me, i'm sure you can find it on any filesharing program.. (i know, it's wrong - i'm probably going to go to hell)

[TruckGirl]

I agree that some of the cracked PDA software doesn't work perfectly. I got the cracked Oxford Handbook of Clinical Medicine, but it wouldn't allow me to search the index, so I bought the original for around $60 and it's great.

As for the Stedman's dictionary, and a load of other software, the Skyscape Keygen works miracles. I used to know of a site that had all of them available for download either cracked, or requiring the Keygen. But recently they took it all off and are now selling everything on a CD. They had any medical PDA software imaginable. Too bad I didn't download everything before they took it off, but it's still pretty easy to get by a file sharing program.

The doctors at the wards seem to be impressed by the kinds of software available. Their pockets are full of big fat books, and they can't find anything they're looking for. Poor folks are computer illiterate At least I get to laugh at them before they start laughing at me when I examine a patient.

[abomomo]

hi there , how you doing ? i'm a medical student study in czech , i would like to ask you about the skyscape carck ? could you help me to find it ?i'll aprreciate this.... my email is abomomo@yahoo.com. thanks alot .nabi

[abomomo]

hi there , how you doing ? i'm a medical student study in czech , i would like to ask you about the skyscape carck ? could you help me to find it ?i'll aprreciate this.... my email is abomomo@yahoo.com. thanks alot .nabi

[tuscani]

just got myself a palm PDA. have heard how great and free skyscape programmes are. how to get my hands on info to crack skyscape programmes?
please help.

Originally Posted by Sledge2005

I agree that pocket pc's are probably better then pda's now. However, there is no skyscape crack available for pocket pc's. So if you're the techy type person that will put the time in to figure out how to follow basic steps in a tutorial for cracking the skyscape programs, pda's are the way to go. Otherwise, have fun using crappy free software or paying 80 bucks for every good program. Meanwhile my pda has A2Zdrugs (blows epocrates away), MedTests, HbDxTests, WU Int serv guide, Wash man 3.1, med recall, surg recall, usmle 1 secrets, usmle 2 secrets, 5 minute clincal consult, 5 min id consult, ferri guide, IM on Call, and steadman's complete med dictionary all for FREE. Plus, everytime you do a rotation you can download the skyscape programs specific to that rotation that you'd never buy otherwise. For example, on my last obgyn rotation I downloaded obgyn recall, JHUObgyn, Pocket Obgyn, and Wash U Obgyn.

As soon as I stop taking out huge loans and get an income next year I'll stop hacking and buy the most useful programs (STEADMANS, a2zdrugs, and 5mcc). Plus I'll probably also buy a couple other programs specific to my specialty. But as students, I don't think it's that morally wrong to not pay for downloaded programs, especially if you're only going to be needing them for 4 weeks during your rotation.

[ericdamiansean]

Times certainly have changed here,..I thought discussing this was illegal

Anyone has the latest key gen? That would really rock

[joshua_msu]

Yes it would. I would like one too. Just got a Tungsten T3.

[ericdamiansean]

The key gen that's available now is for skyscape 2003 products..I doubt you need to update the dictionary, maybe the drugs would need some updating

[maqsur]

The keygen that is available via filesharing (I found it on emule) is called Frozen Skyscape keygen. It works with both old and new programs (even ones that were just released last month).

[Joel Fleischman]

any oppinion as to epocrates vs. mobile PDR?

[maqsur]

i'm using drdrugs (from skyscape).. it seems pretty good.. i also use some other specific drug guides (like pain and psych drug guides)

[joshua_msu]

Originally Posted by maqsur

The keygen that is available via filesharing (I found it on emule) is called Frozen Skyscape keygen. It works with both old and new programs (even ones that were just released last month).

So I just go to the Skyscape website and get the free trial, then use the keygen right?