Do all schools give students a PDA?

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I don't think it is. The only school I remember saying that is Campbell University. You don't even get in until P4 and I am sure they tack the price of it onto your tuition. Other than that I haven't heard of a free PDA, although I didn't apply to UMN
 
I didn't get one from my school, but I hear its a real asset during P4 rotations. I'm thinking about getting a smartphone...they're so expensive though.
 
free = they roll the cost into your $100k tuition. Buy one on ebay
 
Who needs a PDA? Aren't we supposed to learn this stuff in school?
 
Who needs a PDA? Aren't we supposed to learn this stuff in school?

edit: Sorry, computer malfunction. Maybe if I used a PDA, that wouldn't happen.

Seriously though, I hope no one chooses their school based on getting a free PDA. That would be like the mother of 7 getting free condoms from the clinic to give to her kids to use as water balloons.
 
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Our school didn't give us a PDA, but there was a discount through UT for Lexi. It's really, really nice to have on rotation...just try not to rely on it, or you'll be reading instead of remembering.
 
It wouldn't be "free"; like someone else has posted already, it'll be folded into your tuition. PDAs or smartphones are not a bad idea. No matter how much you "learn" in school, it never hurts to have a database available just to make sure you learned the right information. Unless you get 100% on all of your exams, chances are you did not learn everything.

I can see it being a very useful device for interning, community service, and definitely during rotations.
 
pharmacygopher said:
Some schools give students a PDA with drug databases. I know Minnesota gives their students PDAs fall of 1st year. I was wondering if others got PDAs from their schools or not?
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somehow you had paid for the damn pda

probably for twice what its worth:idea:
 
pharmacygopher said:
My friend got a PDA when he started pharmacy school and a bunch of drug databases. I was wondering if this is standard for all pharmacy schools?
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I have never heard of a school giving a PDA - they DO give free copies of Thompsons. Which is an excellent drug database for the PDA. They also offer coupons for Lexi-Comp, which is what I use and think it is by far the best.

So far - nothing can touch the iPhone + Lexi-Comp Complete combo.
 
gll8889 said:
Who needs a PDA? Aren't we supposed to learn this stuff in school?
Click to expand...

If you ever shadow a pharmacist you'll realize that lots of things are worth looking up...no way you're going to remember the half-lives, drug interactions, etc. of every drug. Plus, new drugs are coming out all the time...you won't be such a helpful pharmacist if you say "I didn't learn that drug in school."
 
eightball said:
somehow you had paid for the damn pda

probably for twice what its worth:idea:
Click to expand...
I think the appropriate word is...duh Pharmacy school is expensive? Wow, I did not know that. Thanks for the insightful post. Whether or not my tuition is $200 more because of a PDA, I don't care. I'm investing $100,000+ into a education.

I was wondering because they are a useful tool. My pharmacists use them for a quick reference frequently. I just wanted to know if it is standard practice for pharmacy schools or not.
 
pharmacygopher said:
I think the appropriate word is...duh Pharmacy school is expensive? Wow, I did not know that. Thanks for the insightful post. Whether or not my tuition is $200 more because of a PDA, I don't care. I'm investing $100,000+ into a education.
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Nice attitude.
 
aboveliquidice said:
So far - nothing can touch the iPhone + Lexi-Comp Complete combo.
Click to expand...

Hey Seth, how does lexi-comp for iPhone compare with epocrates for the iPhone? I have epocrates right now but is it worth it to pay the extra amount for lexi-comp?

Back to topic, many of the pharmacists I work with have PDAs which were not provided to them by the school...they highly advise to get one during school and have one for after school simply because there is way too much information in the drug field to remember
 
I'd rather research/buy my own...it's not gonna be "free" it's folded into your tuition.
 
University of Minnesota gives each entering student PDAs. I am sure there are other schools that do it. I think it would be useful to have at some point. You can never remember everything.
 
AdamSanders said:
I don't think it is. The only school I remember saying that is Campbell University. You don't even get in until P4 and I am sure they tack the price of it onto your tuition. Other than that I haven't heard of a free PDA, although I didn't apply to UMN
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you should be ashamed of yourself for not knowing. 😉 All OSU P3's are issued a PDA with all the drug related software. This year's P3 is the last year to get the old Palm T/X. Next year's P3's be getting the Apple iTouch. <grumble> why I always miss all the good stuff by 1 year. 😡 <grumble>
 
The Palm T|X is the one I bought myself last year...I can't stand the thing now. So many dead spots on the screen...
 
I had a palm pda for the first three years of pharm school and really didnt use it that much. Right before rotations, I got a windows mobile smartphone (had a sprint mogul and now i have an HTC touch pro) and they have been great. The best part is that I dont have to carry a phone and a pda. Plus most of the drug software updates over the cell network automatically. You still need to know your stuff, but they difinitely come in handy.
 
dumediat said:
The Palm T|X is the one I bought myself last year...I can't stand the thing now. So many dead spots on the screen...
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I don't like it either. It came out in 2005, so it's old by tech standard, and it's a brick when compared to iTouch. Some of the "richer" students just let it collect dust, and had the IT department install the software on their own iTouch/iPhones instead.
 
How does it work if you are at a facility which does not allow cell phones inside? A correctional facility, for example.

So an iPod Touch can have the same function without the phone capability?
 
I just had a rotation at an inpatient behavioral psych facility where phones were prohibited, and I was allowed to use my PDA. However, if you end up not being allowed to use it, those facilities always have the drug info handbooks for you to use instead.
 
hqd003 said:
Hey Seth, how does lexi-comp for iPhone compare with epocrates for the iPhone? I have epocrates right now but is it worth it to pay the extra amount for lexi-comp?

Back to topic, many of the pharmacists I work with have PDAs which were not provided to them by the school...they highly advise to get one during school and have one for after school simply because there is way too much information in the drug field to remember
Click to expand...

Epocrates should NEVER be trusted do to a ridiculous amount of errors. I began the year using it (as there was nothing else available for the iPhone at the time) and found on multiple occasions that the dosing was flat out wrong.

Additionally, Lexi-Comp complete has AHFS Essentials - which has a great section called "advice to the patient" that hits important notes in the consult of most meds. This becomes VERY big when your preceptor demands "by-the-book" level of consulting.

It was almost an evil thing to have my first experience consulting at a Wags and a Walmart - When I got to Kaiser, I learned first hand what real consulting was. Needless to say, there is a LOT that goes into each consult, and having an accurate database to back you up (when you need it) is essential.

No offense to those who work for these companies and are awesome - I saw the full spectrum of practitioners - awesome to terrible - but most were on the terrible side of things...
 
aboveliquidice said:
Epocrates should NEVER be trusted do to a ridiculous amount of errors. I began the year using it (as there was nothing else available for the iPhone at the time) and found on multiple occasions that the dosing was flat out wrong.
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Definitely agree with this. I think it was a few years ago that there was a paper published comparing the accuracy of the PDA software databases, and epocrates landed at the bottom by a decent margin.
 
rx515 said:
I had a palm pda for the first three years of pharm school and really didnt use it that much. Right before rotations, I got a windows mobile smartphone (had a sprint mogul and now i have an HTC touch pro) and they have been great. The best part is that I dont have to carry a phone and a pda. Plus most of the drug software updates over the cell network automatically. You still need to know your stuff, but they difinitely come in handy.
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Just make sure you have a good data plan. I don't pay for data, and epocrates likes to autoupdate. Any idea what 3+MB costs at $.05/KB it ain't cheap.😡 Turned autoupdate off real quick.
 
wondering what you guys are all using nowadays for PDA references. Currently I have lexi drugs on my work PDA. I'm wondering if there are any other recommended PDA apps. Also someone mentioned above that they will be using an itouch in the future. Is there any good apps for the itouch i can download? I am not familiar with the latest and greatest.
 
Wow, the Lexi-comp for the iPhone is pricey though...300 bucks! I'm sure it's way better than the free downloads like epocrates. Now, with the iPhone, can't you just go to the website for lexi or facts and comparisons rather than using the applications? It would be just as easy...assuming you have access through your school. UB has subscriptions to both of those and clinical pharm too.
 
OSU installed Lexi on all the PDAs, and I installed a copy of Sanford. 🙂
 
I believe the University of Minnesota was given a hefty donation awhile back to help pay for, among other things, PDAs for all its students
 
It would if a school provided an assistant to go with the PDA. 😀
 
For those of you with lexi-complete for the iPhone/ipod Touch, when you go check an interaction between drugs does it always crash on you?
 
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