Technology iPad as a Med Student

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GoZags

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Not to start a huge Fanboi discussion about Apple v PC based products, but as a med student, does having an iPad as a study tool help? Before I make a $500+ investment I wanted to ask a couple folks if they knew if an iPad would be more of a distraction / cumbersome / useless toy or actually worthwhile?

Any useful apps for years 1-2?
 
GoZags said:
Not to start a huge Fanboi discussion about Apple v PC based products, but as a med student, does having an iPad as a study tool help? Before I make a $500+ investment I wanted to ask a couple folks if they knew if an iPad would be more of a distraction / cumbersome / useless toy or actually worthwhile?

Any useful apps for years 1-2?
Click to expand...

get a laptop.
 
Slevin said:
Na, not really useful the first two years. Save your cash for the iPad 5 when clinical rotations start
Click to expand...

Haha it's almost laughable how quickly the different versions release. Thanks for the advice. So no useful anatomy apps or study tools?
 
GoZags said:
Haha it's almost laughable how quickly the different versions release. Thanks for the advice. So no useful anatomy apps or study tools?
Click to expand...

Meh, save the iPad money and spend $200-300 for a nice 24" LCD monitor to use with your laptop. Dual screen, baby! I have dual display both at work and at home and I'm never going back.

For example, you can have a video lecture going full screen on your big monitor and take notes in Word on your laptop screen (or a PowerPoint or PDF lecture). Or do SDN on one screen and school stuff on another. Pass on the expensive iPad until at least clinical years (if at all).

My current Home setup:

triScreen.jpg
 
Easier to drink with lid off. J/k. Sweet setup.
 
I have an iPad that I think will be very useful for med school, but I got it as a gift. I also have 3 kids so if I can load stuff on my iPad and bring it with me to a baseball game or a dance competition, or when I am waiting to pick them up from school, it will be incredibly valuable. But unless you have a lot of situations where the time it takes for the laptop to load would make it not-worth it to study at that time, a laptop would be much more valuable.
 
incredibly useful

get evernote, dropbox, goodreader, study blue apps. there are some great anatomy apps, Netter is now available. my hospital's EMR has an iOS app i can access via iphone and ipad - fantastic for home call.

i use it more than my laptop at this point.
 
DOctorJay said:
incredibly useful

get evernote, dropbox, goodreader, study blue apps. there are some great anatomy apps, Netter is now available. my hospital's EMR has an iOS app i can access via iphone and ipad - fantastic for home call.

i use it more than my laptop at this point.
Click to expand...

I will research these apps, The first couple you mentioned are useful for 1st and 2nd year yes?
 
I have one and love it (using it right now). The biggest utility of it is as an e-reader. You can find virtually any book you need for free on the Internetand that alone will make it pay for itself. Personally, I don't really get the big deal about study apps, most of them don't seem worth the money after you get over the initial thrill.

Honestly, I don't see the use of it for the clinical years. It's not portable enough to carry around withmyoumon the wards and you'd look like a duechebag anyway. And it's not like the hospital's gonna give you EMRA access as a student on it like they would for residents (if compatible).
 
Agree that if u have no access to the EMR then no reason to bring it to the wards unless u plan to sneak off and read.
 
GoZags said:
Not to start a huge Fanboi discussion about Apple v PC based products, but as a med student, does having an iPad as a study tool help? Before I make a $500+ investment I wanted to ask a couple folks if they knew if an iPad would be more of a distraction / cumbersome / useless toy or actually worthwhile?

Any useful apps for years 1-2?
Click to expand...

Personally, the only utility I see in it is for reading as others have pointed out. It is a want and not a need. If I had the disposable income... totally would get one.
 
For organization of academic papers, I can't recommend the Papers app strongly enough - it was written by a couple of biology Ph.D.'s during their post-doc and has won a bunch of design awards for Mac software. The mobile version is pretty good too.

Also, for the radiology inclined, Osirix is great software as well.
 
Does papers have optical character recognition like Evernote? Can it search through all your PDFs and pictures for text you're interested in?

My system is open journal article PDF in goodreader, highlight and annotate, send to Evernote. Accessible on ANY device that has Internet access. AND IT'S FREE.

Watch the video above.
 
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DOctorJay said:
Does papers have optical character recognition like Evernote? Can it search through all your PDFs and pictures for text you're interested in?

My system is open journal article PDF in goodreader, highlight and annotate, send to Evernote. Accessible on ANY device that has Internet access. AND IT'S FREE.

Watch the video above.
Click to expand...

Yeah that is what sold me, the text recognition is pretty B-A. Going to get ipad 3 which is coming out next week lol, new macbook pro, and my apple fanboi suit as well
 
DOctorJay said:
Does papers have optical character recognition like Evernote?
Click to expand...

I use Evernote too, but would never use it for articles. If you have a large collection, Papers handles organization for you automatically, and OCR isn't an issue when you're downloading from PubMed. If you're doing serious research, keeping tabs of your cited articles with Evernote would be a pain in the *****.

I use Evernote for class handouts and other random things that I would otherwise keep as loose sheets of paper in a folder.
 
Makes sense. I like one bucket (and I'm cheap so free is better).
 
Anyone have any luck with the B&N Nook Tablet? I'll be matriculating in the fall, and I'm torn between that and the iPad 2. From what I have researched, the Nook is much cheaper, has the capability for expanding memory up to 48GB whereas you're stuck at 16GB with the iPad), has the same app availability as the iPad (including Evernote, which seems incredibly useful!), and their protection plan covers accidents. I've used a MacBook for the last 4 years, and I'm definitely an Apple person, but the Nook just seems like a much better deal. Thoughts?
 
Ismet said:
Anyone have any luck with the B&N Nook Tablet? I'll be matriculating in the fall, and I'm torn between that and the iPad 2. From what I have researched, the Nook is much cheaper, has the capability for expanding memory up to 48GB whereas you're stuck at 16GB with the iPad), has the same app availability as the iPad (including Evernote, which seems incredibly useful!), and their protection plan covers accidents. I've used a MacBook for the last 4 years, and I'm definitely an Apple person, but the Nook just seems like a much better deal. Thoughts?
Click to expand...
when I looked at it the nook had two strikes against it for me. One, it's significantly smaller than the ipad, and reading textbooks or papers on it would seem slightly difficult. Two, it ran noticeably slower and choppier than the ipad. If you have the money, I'd prolly go for the ipad (but, unless you are gonna use this for school and pirate any books you need for classes vs buying them, you probably shouldn't get either).
 
turkeyjerky said:
when I looked at it the nook had two strikes against it for me. One, it's significantly smaller than the ipad, and reading textbooks or papers on it would seem slightly difficult. Two, it ran noticeably slower and choppier than the ipad. If you have the money, I'd prolly go for the ipad (but, unless you are gonna use this for school and pirate any books you need for classes vs buying them, you probably shouldn't get either).
Click to expand...

I would tend to lead towards iPad anyways also because of the software developers for it...There are far more developers making apps for ipad than any other mobile platform out there
 
Dallenoff said:
Meh, save the iPad money and spend $200-300 for a nice 24" LCD monitor to use with your laptop. Dual screen, baby! I have dual display both at work and at home and I'm never going back.

For example, you can have a video lecture going full screen on your big monitor and take notes in Word on your laptop screen (or a PowerPoint or PDF lecture). Or do SDN on one screen and school stuff on another. Pass on the expensive iPad until at least clinical years (if at all).

My current Home setup:

triScreen.jpg
Click to expand...

I've wanted to do this for such a long time....just haven't invested the time to get it all figured out. anyone have a link to a one stop get it all done website that details it all?
 
absolutdokta said:
I've wanted to do this for such a long time....just haven't invested the time to get it all figured out. anyone have a link to a one stop get it all done website that details it all?
Click to expand...

If you need a guide to do it, it's more of a headache than it's worth.

That said, Lifehacker obsessed over multiple monitor workstations every few weeks.
 
johnnydrama said:
If you need a guide to do it, it's more of a headache than it's worth.

That said, Lifehacker obsessed over multiple monitor workstations every few weeks.
Click to expand...

Well from the looks of it there are 2 separate computers for the 3 monitors. My understanding of the only way you can have 3 monitors is with ATI Eyefinity graphics card...im sure there is a workaround? Still pretty cool nonetheless
 
absolutdokta said:
I've wanted to do this for such a long time....just haven't invested the time to get it all figured out. anyone have a link to a one stop get it all done website that details it all?
Click to expand...

GoZags said:
Well from the looks of it there are 2 separate computers for the 3 monitors. My understanding of the only way you can have 3 monitors is with ATI Eyefinity graphics card...im sure there is a workaround? Still pretty cool nonetheless
Click to expand...

Yeah, it's a quick and dirty method. The monitor on the left is simply plugged into my laptop with a VGA cable. Takes a few minutes tops. The monitor on the right is for a separate desktop computer.

I recently replaced the 4' table with a 6' and had 2 laptops + 2 monitors once. It's really easy with a laptop -- with a desktop you'll need multiple outputs to use two monitors.
 
johnnydrama said:
If you need a guide to do it, it's more of a headache than it's worth.

That said, Lifehacker obsessed over multiple monitor workstations every few weeks.
Click to expand...
i'm by no means a tech n006....nor am I a tech wizardy wiz. i've done my share of tech mods over the years...just never delved into this pocket of it. I used to cruise around lifehacker a ton....then I started down the road I'm currently on
 
I was short of cash a couple of weeks ago, so my iPad was the first thing to go. I don't miss it, but those things move quick, with a pretty good resale value. I posted it on amazon and it sold within a day... i guess thats an upside.
 
All Apple products hold their value very well compared to other electronics. I was able to upgrade my iPhone to the 4S and only paid like $50 for it after selling my 3GS.

If you were to buy an iPad now and wanted to upgrade in the future, I'm sure you wouldn't lose a ton of money on it by selling the old one.
 
I am not as much of a tech person as most of you guys so I had a couple of questions. Would it make more sense to get a laptop and use that for awhile until I really need an ipad? It seems like the ipads keep coming out so quickly and my program gives me one at the end of the first semester.

Also, what are these programs/aps that you guys are talking about? are these for reading online books and highlighting/writing annotations? I am looking to download my required books and carry them all together and be able to write and highlight. Are most of the books that are required 1st and 2nd years available in digital versions?
 
If your program is giving you an iPad at the end of the first semester, why buy one a few months earlier? Laptop is definitely the better choice -- you'll always need a reliable full blown computer if you don't have one. Tablets replace many aspects of computing but not all.
 
That is what I figured. What aps do you suggest for highlighting/annotating or do I need to buy programs?
 
Goodreader for highlighting annotating on iPad. Then email into your Evernote account for easy access anywhere and searching with OCR.
 
There is also iAnnotate and Notability that I think work good. Inkling is also a nice one I just started looking at. You purchase your books through them online and you can highlight and put notes in the book. It seems nice, but I have no experience with it yet. Some one else may be able to give a better view of it.
 
arizona87 said:
That is what I figured. What aps do you suggest for highlighting/annotating or do I need to buy programs?
Click to expand...

You should get: Kindle, Skyscape, Goodreader, Epocrates, Papers (if you use PubMed a lot), Evernote. Books is the apple app which also allows annotation I believe.
 
MedPsy82 said:
There is also iAnnotate and Notability that I think work good. Inkling is also a nice one I just started looking at. You purchase your books through them online and you can highlight and put notes in the book. It seems nice, but I have no experience with it yet. Some one else may be able to give a better view of it.
Click to expand...

are all these programs things that do the same thing but just in a different way? Or is each one needed for whole package to work? can you buy these from the app store?
 
arizona87 said:
are all these programs things that do the same thing but just in a different way? Or is each one needed for whole package to work? can you buy these from the app store?
Click to expand...

iAnnotate and Notability are similar to Goodreader, from what I can tell, that DOctorJay mentioned, they all can be used to annotate and highlight. They are all available in the app store.

Inkling can highlight areas and you can put notes of types in ebooks purchased through them, but I do not think you can freehand annotate anything like the others. Again I really don't have any real experience with Inkling so I am not positive on how it exactly works. This is also available in the app store.
 
Dallenoff said:
If your program is giving you an iPad at the end of the first semester, why buy one a few months earlier? Laptop is definitely the better choice -- you'll always need a reliable full blown computer if you don't have one. Tablets replace many aspects of computing but not all.
Click to expand...

this lady I know has a daughter starting college this fall and money is tight so she(the daughter) wants to skip a laptop and get an iPad. I tried convincing her decent laptops are priced very well and not having a fully functioning computer would get annoying after a while... I think my words were in vain though
 
absolutdokta said:
this lady I know has a daughter starting college this fall and money is tight so she(the daughter) wants to skip a laptop and get an iPad. I tried convincing her decent laptops are priced very well and not having a fully functioning computer would get annoying after a while... I think my words were in vain though
Click to expand...
There's no way an iPad or any tablet even comes close to a PC for college purposes. All the special web-based applications, Flash, ActiveX plug-ins, special software. Heck, keyboard and mouse for pete's sake let alone a big monitor with decent resolution. Or if living in the dorms, might be necessary to be connected via cable instead of WiFi for some network printing and accessing shared folders.
 
Bumping this because I have the same question... have a PowerBook, thinking of getting an iPad primarily for books / being able to study easily when traveling. My school DOESN'T stream lectures so I actually will go to them, so... less heavy stuff = better for biking to campus.

- Most textbooks seem available in electronic format... true?

- Can textbooks all live on the cloud or do they need to live on the hard drive?

- I'm not an expert on which programs/apps work for iPad vs. other electronic forms and whether it's a problem if different books run on different apps? Thoughts?

- Relative benefit of e-books (i.e. portability? usually can take notes/highlight, right?) vs. regular books (what we're used to, can buy used, can re-sell)

- iPad2 significantly different enough from iPad3 to be worth it? I imagine the better resolution makes reading better and can get 32GB but... I'm not gonna game or anything so not sure if $100 difference is worth it....

Thanks 🙂
 
So I'm going to an ICU for my next rotation and it seems EVERYBODY and their mother including my preceptor has an Ipad on the ICU team I'll be assigned to. I have the first Ipad, should I bother getting the third one ? I'm worried about feeling 'excluded' and non efficient because on my last rotation - even my attending had one and I felt out of place at times not being able to present patients looking at the latest labs.

I'll mainly be using it to access Epic and prolly look up patient's charts and what not.
 
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