iPad Mini or iPad Pro for Med School?

[Dr_Omnicient]

Hey all,

I'm thinking about getting an iPad to take notes with for medical school. I recently tried the pencil, and it seems really easy to write and take notes with. Since the pencil is compatible with both the Pro (Gen 2 Pencil) and the Mini (Gen 1 Pencil), I'm wondering what others recommend. Does the Mini fit in white coat pockets?

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[TakotsuboOkazaki]

Odds are you won't need to keep the iPad in your white coat pocket as a student unless your school has that built into your curriculum. So I wouldn't worry about the pocket thing.

I do use an iPad to take notes in class and I find it very helpful. The screens are already small so I would try to go with anything other than the mini.

 

[meronebib]

.

 

[Medic741]

Hey all,

I'm thinking about getting an iPad to take notes with for medical school. I recently tried the pencil, and it seems really easy to write and take notes with. Since the pencil is compatible with both the Pro (Gen 2 Pencil) and the Mini (Gen 1 Pencil), I'm wondering what others recommend. Does the Mini fit in white coat pockets?

A plug for the 12.9" Pro -- you can have 2 different notes open side-by-side and it's big enough that this is useful, ie making notes/study guide off of a powerpoint.

 

[ciestar]

The mini will fit in your white coat pocket and I have several classmates who have the mini keep them in their pocket while on rotations. I have a Pro and it is too big for that. I used it for notes the first two years and anything smaller would have been difficult to take notes on.

 

[OrganRepo]

Pro

 

[LebronManning]

A plug for the 12.9" Pro -- you can have 2 different notes open side-by-side and it's big enough that this is useful, ie making notes/study guide off of a powerpoint.

I'm between the 12.9 inch or 11 inch pro. Do you think the 11 inch would be too small for this purpose? I'm afraid 12.9 is a bit big..

 

[FiremedicMike]

I'm between the 12.9 inch or 11 inch pro. Do you think the 11 inch would be too small for this purpose? I'm afraid 12.9 is a bit big..

If you get notability, you can import the ppt into a notability note and scribble notes directly on the ppt.

I’m not a medical student, but I use the snot out of my 10.5” iPad Pro for school, work, and general consumption.

I also recommend getting the LTE version, yes it’s an extra upfront and monthly expense, but it really is so much more convenient than tethering or constantly looking for WiFi..

 

[Dr_Omnicient]

Are you a Windows user? Because if you are, I find the new Surface Pros to be far superior than the iPad for note-taking and beyond.

I'm an Apple user

 

[Medic741]

I'm between the 12.9 inch or 11 inch pro. Do you think the 11 inch would be too small for this purpose? I'm afraid 12.9 is a bit big..

You'll really appreciate the extra screen space if you go that way imo

If you get notability, you can import the ppt into a notability note and scribble notes directly on the ppt.

I’m not a medical student, but I use the snot out of my 10.5” iPad Pro for school, work, and general consumption.

I also recommend getting the LTE version, yes it’s an extra upfront and monthly expense, but it really is so much more convenient than tethering or constantly looking for WiFi..

a strong +1 for notability. They also do handwriting recognition that can read my chicken scratch. When you export your notes as .pdf somehow this gets saved as metadata in the files so your handwritten notes on a deck are searchable on your computer which ends up being really helpful while studying for boards

 

[AnMDtoB]

Are you a Windows user? Because if you are, I find the new Surface Pros to be far superior than the iPad for note-taking and beyond.

Heard there was a consumer report that reviewed the surface and found they had a pretty weak useful life (<1 year).

Personally have used the iPad Pro for note taking for physics classes and the pencil works really, really nicely and I highly recommend it if price isn't an issue - don't know that you'd want to walk around with something that expensive in your pocket so would recommend just getting the larger size. Generally felt like it could probably replace a computer if all you're doing is writing documents, taking notes, browsing the net, etc., except it's ability to store lots of files in an organized fashion is pretty limited

 

[teenyfish]

For those of you who use the iPad - what storage size do you recommend? I’ll largely use it only for class and the occasional Netflix.

 

[meronebib]

.

 

[AnMDtoB]

Which Surface was that? Because the one I’m talking about hasn’t even been out for a year.

I can't remember exactly, but the story I'm remembering is a couple years old so it's definitely not that one. Looks like the surface go is still getting lukewarm reviews. People that I know who have a surface (any kind) seem to be happy enough with them

 

[FiremedicMike]

For those of you who use the iPad - what storage size do you recommend? I’ll largely use it only for class and the occasional Netflix.

I have the 64gb with only 22gb used up. My ipad has netflix/youtube, a few games/apps, and currently at 80 notability notes of varying sizes..

 

[ciestar]

For those of you who use the iPad - what storage size do you recommend? I’ll largely use it only for class and the occasional Netflix.

I got the 128 GB. At the time, there was only 32 then nothing until 128. 32 wasnt enough lol

 

[LebronManning]

Do you guys think the 64 gb is enough given we can always just buy iCloud storage?

 

[initialize]

Are you a Windows user? Because if you are, I find the new Surface Pros to be far superior than the iPad for note-taking and beyond.

I heard that Notability is the best note-taking app though...

 

[Medic741]

For those of you who use the iPad - what storage size do you recommend? I’ll largely use it only for class and the occasional Netflix.

I have a 32GB and can only use it for academic stuff because the storage is tight. If I did it again I’d buy a 64gb or bigger in a heartbeat

 

[WedgeDawg]

I wouldn't worry about size - you won't be keeping it in your white coat on rotations for a ton of reasons (1. it's not any more use than your phone, 2. you take your white coat off a lot and place it in random places so it could get lost/stolen, 3. it's bulky and annoying to carry, 4. you'll look like a goober, 5. you need the pocket space for other stuff)

 

[_Cloud9]

Mini is too small if you end up choosing iPads, go for the Pro it'll be worth it!

 

[initialize]

Still haven’t found a clear-cut answer to whether I should get the 11” or 12.9”, how much storage space, and whether I should get WiFi + cellular or WiFi only. What do you guys think?

 

[DO2015CA]

I used the mini throughout medical school and wouldn’t have gotten anything bigger. We used ITunes U for recorded lectures and it was the perfect size the screen is big enough to see all the PPT details. Then during downtime on rotations I would pull it out of my bag (never kept it in the white coat because it was a waste of space) and did practice questions on it.

I had some classmates that bought the pros and they said it wasn’t worth it. It’s like hauling another laptop around. No iPad can replace a computer. You will still need that. If you are looking for one device to effectively serve as both then look into the windows surface pros. iPad simply doesn’t have enough power to replace a laptop.

 

[DO2015CA]

Mini is too small if you end up choosing iPads, go for the Pro it'll be worth it!

What are your reasons for this? What was your experience?

 

[4thtimeretaker]

What apps would you recommend incoming 1st years to download prior to school starting?

 

[7331poas]

What apps would you recommend incoming 1st years to download prior to school starting?

Anki is the only study tool you need

 

[Medic741]

What apps would you recommend incoming 1st years to download prior to school starting?

Notability for note taking
Dropbox to easily share docs w classmates and b/w your computer/iPad. Makes the iPad a lot more functional IMO
Anki
Human anatomy app (the 3D model VR one was invaluable in passing anatomy)

 

[4thtimeretaker]

Notability for note taking
Dropbox to easily share docs w classmates and b/w your computer/iPad. Makes the iPad a lot more functional IMO
Anki
Human anatomy app (the 3D model VR one was invaluable in passing anatomy)

So I had one question, my school provides free Microsoft 365 which comes with OneNote, how do you think ON ranks in comparison to Notability?

 

[DDS_Skier]

Still haven’t found a clear-cut answer to whether I should get the 11” or 12.9”, how much storage space, and whether I should get WiFi + cellular or WiFi only. What do you guys think?

I have an iPad Pro 12.9” 256gb and like it a lot. One of my friends used one all school year, he loved it for anatomy and saving paper spaced and so I caved and bought one. So far very efficient. Hope this helps.

 

[initialize]

I have an iPad Pro 12.9” 256gb and like it a lot. One of my friends used one all school year, he loved it for anatomy and saving paper spaced and so I caved and bought one. So far very efficient. Hope this helps.

Funny you mention this - I actually just got one the other day with those exact specs lol. Did you get cellular or just WiFi?