Please suggest a Palm for residency

[coffee beans]

Hi! I matched to 2009 family medicine residency and I am looking forward to my training starting in July.

Would you please recommend a Palm and software for residents? Thanks very much for you kind help!

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[Doctor Grim]

Hi! I matched to 2009 family medicine residency and I am looking forward to my training starting in July.

Would you please recommend a Palm and software for residents? Thanks very much for you kind help!

Some FM residency programs provide a palm for their residents. So ask your program. If not, I like the Palm Treo-it is also a smart phone-

I have 5-min consult, Geriatrics at your finger tip, and epocrates which I use the most. You could also go online with your phone and get other info when needed.

 

[coffee beans]

Doctor Grim:

My prgram seems not providing PDA to residents.

I would like to have an independent PDA, not a PDA/phone combo. Any suggestions?

Thanks you very much!!

 

[DonStracci]

Doctor Grim:

My prgram seems not providing PDA to residents.

I would like to have an independent PDA, not a PDA/phone combo. Any suggestions?

Thanks you very much!!

I love my Palm TX... it's served me well for two years and hopefully it keeps going through residency.

For programs, I like Pepid- I've never liked Epocrates... and I'm hoping my residency program will pay for it.

 

[coffee beans]

Thanks! DonStracci.

 

[skypilot]

I second the palm tx. Works great. Not too expensive if you lose it. Has wireless internet.

 

[deleted87716]

Standalone PDAs (particularly those running Palm OS Garnet) are dead ends technologically. There will be no more of them from Palm, and third-party development will gradually migrate to other platforms, such as the iPhone and Pre. However, there's still plenty of useful software out there that isn't going to go away overnight, so they should still be viable for a few more years, probably long enough for you to finish residency.

The Tungsten TX would also be my recommendation.

 

[deucerp]

iPhone or iPod Touch hands down

 

[coffee beans]

Thanks all for your suggestions. Just got message from my program that residents could use the education funding to buy PDA.

Will choose between Palm TX and Tungsten TX.

 

[nobrainer]

If you have a cell phone, you might as well buy a Palm treo pro or wait for the Palm Pre or other smartphone. Otherwise you will be carrying both.

 

[DonStracci]

If you have a cell phone, you might as well buy a Palm treo pro or wait for the Palm Pre or other smartphone. Otherwise you will be carrying both.

Is there reason to carry a cell phone around with you during the day?

 

[Cala]

Thanks all for your suggestions. Just got message from my program that residents could use the education funding to buy PDA.

Will choose between Palm TX and Tungsten TX.

I am all for the Palm TX. I had one for the last 3 years and has continued to serve me well. If i recall correctly the Tungsten TX lacks built-in WiFi.

 

[Kris1]

iphone or ipod touch hands down

yeeeeeesssssss!!!!!!!

 

[deleted87716]

If i recall correctly the Tungsten TX lacks built-in WiFi.

Incorrect. The TX has Wi-Fi and Bluetooth built in.

 

[nobrainer]

Is there reason to carry a cell phone around with you during the day?

There's no reason to carry both a smartphone and PDA around at the same time. I like to have my cell on me during the day for personal business, surfing the internet, etc.

 

[vin5cent0]

Palm Pre. Hands down.

 

[DrJosephKim]

iPhone!

 

[AndrewFM]

i've been an avid user of palm pilots since 1999, and the most recent one i have is the Palm Tx (same as tungsten Tx)

I also believe it is a dead end.
The current number of apps available for it are good and useful, but no new Palm devices will ever be made (since Palm is coming out with a brand new OS)

so there is no reason for developers to make new programs or update old ones.

also, even though the Palm Tx has Wifi and bluetooth, the web browser and email client is very bad. websites, especially those with java or flash (anything beyond simple text and pictures) don't look right.

iPhone/ipod touch - I've owned an ipod touch before I switched to the iphone. The sky is the limit in terms of applications. With the fact that anyone can write an applicaation and become rich, it's no surprise that there are now TONS of apps for the iphone/ipod touch that are medicine related. You can even view MRIs on the iphone (of course, your hospital must be using their corresponding MRI viewing software)

the only thing that the Palm Tx/Treo has over the iphone/ipod touch is UptoDate. You can use update from your iphone and ipod touch, but you must be connected to the internet. You do not store their articles on your iphone/ipod touch. With the Palm Tx/Treo, if you have the cds, you can install the articles on a memory card that you put in your Palm so you can access it whenever, whereever.