do M 1s and 2s need pda's?

[Yogi Bear]

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is there any advantages of having a pda for 1st and 2nd year? any advantages of color over b/w? i.e. do the medical programs have color pictures? thnx.

 

[Iron Horse]

Sure there are uses, especially if you have early clinical exposure, but I don't have one and I don't miss it. I figure I'll wait until I truly need one. By then there will be better versions out there. No need for me to throw money at something like that now.

You might want to ask folks at your school in various classes.

 

[TysonCook]

As far as Cincinnati you do not need one for year I, and I think that year two a possibility.

I say year two might be different if you want to study stuff for the boards etc as you commute etc.

I wouldn't get one until you felt that you really really needed one.
Save the $

 

[BatmanMD]

Not in Year I or II, but in year III, you should try to get one. They are pretty cool toys that can do a lot, but i would wait.

 

[doepug]

No.

Save your money, and buy a PDA when you get on the wards.

Cheers,
doepug

 

[Jalby]

Nope. Not until they start making PDA board review books will PDA's be usefull. It might help keeping track of the 100+ people you are about to meet.

 

[Finally M3]

PDAs are good for year 3. Epocrates is a GREAT program.

Years 1&2...save your money for the bars

 

[DrBlueDevil]

not at Baylor

 

[paean]

I would be totally lost without mine. It has my schedule (UCSF changes the class schedule daily), all sorts of reminders to myself, my to do list, phone numbers, and as an MS1, I find having epocrates and some of basic (free) medical software useful when we have PBL, or when I'm studying away from my desk at home, and don't have all my books. I find that having a black and white, 8 megs, palmOS based pda is entirely adequate. If you have the money, I'd recommend buying an inexpensive one for MS1&2. They upgrade so fast that if you were to spend the money to get a top of the line one now, it would probably be less than the cheapest one on the market when you start MS3, so better to spend about a $100 now, and if you need a more powerful one in a few years, buy it then.