Advice on a handheld device?

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Tumi 07

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Do Pharmacy schools require or recommend PDAs? I was just wondering because some medical schools are now requiring the use of PDAs. 🙂
 
Tumi 07 said:
Do Pharmacy schools require or recommend PDAs? I was just wondering because some medical schools are now requiring the use of PDAs. 🙂
Click to expand...

Most schools don't require them. You may find them helpful during school, but you don't really need them until you start rotations. Every school is different though I guess. I just got one not too long ago. I made it through first and most of second year without it, but I finally bit the bullet and got one. I am starting rotations in June so I figured now was as good of a time as any.
 
What does one do with them during rotations? Take notes? 😕
 
Snowcat said:
What does one do with them during rotations? Take notes? 😕
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Probably use a drug data base such as epocretes. The pharmacist I work with uses this on her LifeDrive. It may be useful for pharmacy students on rotations.
 
If the physician asks you to dose an Amoxil dose for Otitis Media and you don't have it memorized to be 90mg per per, you can fiddle with a program for 15 seconds and get the answer right there on the spot and look smart. It's kind of like cosmetics for woman. You aren't REALLY that pretty, but as long as you give the facade of pretty, it doesn't matter.
 
Ok guys, I haven't been on the up and up with technology lately (pharmacy school will do that to you), but I'm starting my rotations soon, and I'm looking for a nice birthday idea involving a smart phone. Just looking for your suggestions/recommendations. I'm a loyal sprint user, so smart phone wise I'd be forced to stick with either a Palm Pre or Blackberry. I would consider an iPod Touch as well, and having a cell phone seperately. I can't get an iPhone because I refuse to be an AT&T customer (long story, won't go there). I know there are other options out there.

There is also a ton of software. I have free access to Clinical Pharmacology through my internship, so I can download that, but its not the most powerful software out there. I'm aware there is LexiComp, Micromedex, and Epocrates. What in your opinion is the best for rotations/real life practice? I know Epocrates has a free version, but imagine its rather bare bones.

Thanks for your help.
 
It's all the same, no matter what you get. I have an iPhone which is jailbroken, so I have Lexi-Complete and Epocrates. It's all the same. It's not worth paying $300 a year for Lexi-Comp.

I see all the clinical pharmacists and doctors (mostly residents) using Blackberry. It seems to be the standard, at least where I am in Manhattan.

I would suggest for you to get Blackberry. Then get the free version of Epocrates. That seems to be all you need. No need to waste a couple hundred dollars on an iPod (unless you really want that iPod cause its pretty useful for music and other cool ****).
 
GreyFox2002 said:
Ok guys, I haven't been on the up and up with technology lately (pharmacy school will do that to you), but I'm starting my rotations soon, and I'm looking for a nice birthday idea involving a smart phone. Just looking for your suggestions/recommendations. I'm a loyal sprint user, so smart phone wise I'd be forced to stick with either a Palm Pre or Blackberry. I would consider an iPod Touch as well, and having a cell phone seperately. I can't get an iPhone because I refuse to be an AT&T customer (long story, won't go there). I know there are other options out there.

There is also a ton of software. I have free access to Clinical Pharmacology through my internship, so I can download that, but its not the most powerful software out there. I'm aware there is LexiComp, Micromedex, and Epocrates. What in your opinion is the best for rotations/real life practice? I know Epocrates has a free version, but imagine its rather bare bones.

Thanks for your help.
Click to expand...

If you are happy with your current phone and want a music player, games and medical software with no bills attached then itouch is the way to go.

http://blog.onlinecollegeguru.com/health-care/best-iphone-apps-for-pharmacists/
 
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p-rog said:
What if your hospital doesn't have wi-fi access? Can you download the database onto iphone/ipod touch for off-line use?
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I think another nice option with the itouch is that you can jailbreak it and then get all sorts of apps for free, including lexi comp. There are youtube videos that make jail breaking very easy/step by step instructions. Couple non tech savvy classmates have managed to jailbreak their iphones/itouches and have lexicomp now for free. I think Sparda could tell you how to go about it also.

I am a Droid person, so my knowledge on apple products is limited.

You could shoot the lexicomp people an email and double check about your options, I do not want to give you any wrong info.

https://forms.netsuite.com/app/site...35&redirect_count=1&did_javascript_redirect=T
 
p-rog said:
What if your hospital doesn't have wi-fi access? Can you download the database onto iphone/ipod touch for off-line use?
Click to expand...

Aside from Pill ID, all of the databases function normally offline. Medscape is better than epocrates, and it's free, so you don't have to jailbreak and steal software. I think Lexi-comp is a kludge. Plenty of information, but it's a pain to access that information on the spot.
 
There are a lot of free or extremely cheap pharmacy products for the iPhone or iTouch. One of my coworkers has a free app that has just about every drug in it. There is lots of good stuff out there written by smaller companies. Before buying anything, try it at the store and browse for pharmacy apps.
 
I love my jailbroken ipod touch. My friend gave me lexi and it is very useful. I also have epocrates and medscape on there (but I haven't used them). Aside from using it for pharmacy, it has some pretty neat apps as well.

Walmart has an 8gb touch for $156+tax after 15% bing (microsoft's version of google) cashback. check it out.
 
SCCpharm said:
I love my jailbroken ipod touch. My friend gave me lexi and it is very useful. I also have epocrates and medscape on there (but I haven't used them). Aside from using it for pharmacy, it has some pretty neat apps as well.

Walmart has an 8gb touch for $156+tax after 15% bing (microsoft's version of google) cashback. check it out.
Click to expand...

8Gb is plenty for those databases? No need to go for the 16 or 32 GB?
 
p-rog said:
8Gb is plenty for those databases? No need to go for the 16 or 32 GB?
Click to expand...

All of the databases I've seen are 50-100 MB. Balls to the wall Lexi-Comp might max out at 300 MB. That makes sense, because the databases are mostly text. I don't see them becoming bloated anytime soon.
 
I have a Blackberry and use Epocrates. I paid for a year's subscription, but find that the free version is adequate now that it's expired. Keep in mind that Epocrates sometimes is wrong, so verify doses if using drugs with a narrow TI.

Micromedex 2.0 has a mobile website that works pretty well on my Blackberry.

Clinical Pharm's PDA products are limited to the old Palm OS and Windows Mobile. They said they were working on a Blackberry version a year ago that hasn't materialized yet.
 
I have the Palm Pre (glitch and freeze-free) and Lexi-Comp is *free* on there. YAAAY... with Interaction Checker, too!
 
im planning to upgrade my phone and wondering which one
should i choose? all i need is a phone with pharmacy software
minus (-) the monthly data plan. can anyone reccommend a phone?
 
Hi, folks, I will need to have your advice on this. I currently just finished my P3 year and is moving to a 1 year APPE rotation. Sites of rotation include community, institutional, ambulatory and hospital. We haven't started our rotation yet but I have heard from the upperclassmans saying that a handheld device will be necessary for rotation. The reason is that you learn the drugs yourself better when you actually look up stuff rather than asking the preceptors

My question is, is such a handheld device necessary. I have looked up Palm, iPod Touch, Windows Mobile phones and they are all over $200. Is it worth it to have such a device. If so, what device worked the best for you in terms of value. I am currently considering iPod Touch because of the price and its popularity. Many of my friends got Palm though...

Thanks
 
My Palm Pre is useful, but I don't think its necessary. There will be electronic references available via the cloud computers the hospitals you will visit will use.
 
There are computers allover the hospital, it is not necessary to have a handheld. I used my smartphone a lot in my community IPPE rotations, many of them did not have internet access or adequate text references.

Nothing like writing emails from the bathroom, multitasking!👍
 
In some community settings, you might run into an old computer that will make you wait a while to use any online references. It's not extremely slow or anything, but you can tell that you have to wait longer than you would on a school computer.

I personally haven't had to use my iPod Touch very much to look up stuff while working as an intern, but I think it's useful when I want to look up something quickly and the others are busy on the computers.
 
PumpkinSmasher said:
There are computers allover the hospital, it is not necessary to have a handheld. I used my smartphone a lot in my community IPPE rotations, many of them did not have internet access or adequate text references.

Nothing like writing emails from the bathroom, multitasking!👍
Click to expand...

Access may depend on your individual hospital - only one of my 3 hospital rotations had really good computer access for students. Totally agree with the above regarding community rotation.

Bottom line - I don't think you will be sorry if you do get some sort of handheld - I used mine in the 4th year much more than I thought I would. You can get a good student discount on Lexi-comp, and you don't really need to get Lexi Complete unless you have a lot of specialty rotations (pediatrics, ID, etc.) - just get Drugs and Interactions.
 
I have a blackberry and a couple peripheral brains (sanford guide, internal medicine book) and pretty much every MD i've dealt with has an iphone. It's definitely convienent, but it kinda looks unprofessional, just like if someone catches you getting medical info on wikipedia. If I had wifi and an ipod touch, I think it would be a lot better, because with my blackberry i'm limited to crappy ATT data transmission.

And speaking of wikipedia, the computers at my current site are slow as hell; they load uptodate ok but wikipedia totally makes the computer sound like it's on a runway or something. Also MDs and RNs steal computers, and some places might have you logon which takes a while, etc, etc. So a smartphone or PDA isnt really necessary but a nice luxury; most pharmacy dosing things aren't so urgent that you don't have time to go to a computer.
 
I would buy a PDA for this or buy a cheap iPod Touch and download programs like Epocrates on it. I would not recommend downloading these onto your phone, it kinda looks like your texting someone rather than looking something up. While you aren't texting someone, the embarrassment of "hey, put your phone away! get out of my class!" is enough to change your mind.

Or at least that's what my interns tell me.
 
Silly question but I was confused by a guy at the sprint store. He said if I'm getting any of the smartphones I must sign up for a plan that already includes data (vs. having the option of doing the regular voice call plan PLUS the additional "add-on" data for $15/month or so). I'm looking for getting a family plan but two of the lines wouldn't use the internet at all so that would be a huge waste.

For those of you who're currently using a smartphone (especially from sprint), did you have to go with one of their "Everything data" plans?

Thanks 🙂
 
pearlhw said:
Silly question but I was confused by a guy at the sprint store. He said if I'm getting any of the smartphones I must sign up for a plan that already includes data (vs. having the option of doing the regular voice call plan PLUS the additional "add-on" data for $15/month or so). I'm looking for getting a family plan but two of the lines wouldn't use the internet at all so that would be a huge waste.

For those of you who're currently using a smartphone (especially from sprint), did you have to go with one of their "Everything data" plans?

Thanks 🙂
Click to expand...

That's when you run away from the sales guy and ask your friends :laugh:

But really, your friends will give you good advice from personal experience
 
pearlhw said:
Silly question but I was confused by a guy at the sprint store. He said if I'm getting any of the smartphones I must sign up for a plan that already includes data (vs. having the option of doing the regular voice call plan PLUS the additional "add-on" data for $15/month or so). I'm looking for getting a family plan but two of the lines wouldn't use the internet at all so that would be a huge waste.

For those of you who're currently using a smartphone (especially from sprint), did you have to go with one of their "Everything data" plans?

Thanks 🙂
Click to expand...
I didn't want to pay for the data plans, so I bought a used iPhone (people should be selling their iPhone 3GS since the 4G just came out) and just put in my old SIM card with a pay as you go plan. If the iPhone is locked, it's pretty easy to unlock so it shouldn't be a problem.
 
rxlynn said:
Access may depend on your individual hospital - only one of my 3 hospital rotations had really good computer access for students. Totally agree with the above regarding community rotation.

Bottom line - I don't think you will be sorry if you do get some sort of handheld - I used mine in the 4th year much more than I thought I would. You can get a good student discount on Lexi-comp, and you don't really need to get Lexi Complete unless you have a lot of specialty rotations (pediatrics, ID, etc.) - just get Drugs and Interactions.
Click to expand...

Thompsons is either out or about to come out (they advertised it heavily at midyear) and should be free if you are a student. It really is like having a lightsaber in your back pocket. If I get a question I don't know off the top of my head, it's right there.

I will say that Lexi was rather slow on my original iphone. On the 3gs, it flies.
I would imagine the experience would be improved on the new iphone with the better screen / speed, but it's also pricey.
 
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