Is PDA required for first year medical student????

[aspiringdoctor]

---

Members do not see this ad.

I wonder if i should buy one. some said it is required, others said I won't need it until later. Help?

 

[Random]

Before this thread gets moved... it's school dependent but for Upstate (where it's not required), most people seem to wait but I'm getting one before my MS2 year because sometimes there are often a lot of closely packed meetings and it's an easy way to not forget them.

 

[SanDiegoSOD]

Not for most schools.

 

[OSUdoc08]

I wonder if i should buy one. some said it is required, others said I won't need it until later. Help?

You don't really need one until 3rd year of medical school. I'm waiting to get mine until I graduate medical school, so I can have the most up-to-date model. I plan on getting a PDA that doubles as a phone and MP3 player.

 

[doctortwindad]

PDA'a are like when the laptops came, you dont need it, but if can have it is awesome.I have my dictionary and my office notes loaded on it.I even have the FAid on it.but i havent started school yet.But when I do in Aug, i know I will have all my needs for class , right there in my pocket.
Also,i bought mine at half the price from palm.com , but they were OPEN BOX, but its new.

 

[AmoryBlaine]

Not at all.

I would say that 95% of medical PDA use is differential diagnoses and drugs. Neither of which is going to be a concern your first year.

 

[bigfrank]

I wonder if i should buy one. some said it is required, others said I won't need it until later. Help?

M-3 (maybe), not necessary before then.

 

[Law2Doc]

I wonder if i should buy one. some said it is required, others said I won't need it until later. Help?

You won't have much use for it at any school I am familiar with until at least third year.

 

[cdql]

same thing everyone else said

school requires it for 3rd year but i guess it couldn't hurt to familiarize yourself with the interface if it takes you a while to get accustomed to that sort of thing

one thing though, some schools require a certain os. For instance, while doctors in our local hospital use both windows and palm, medical students are (stupidly) forced to use palms only. (I'm guessing its to accomodate for the software they give us? Or it's just a ploy to ramp up bookstore sales)

 

[drguy22]

my school actually "requires" one starting first year.....we use it to input all of out patient encounters that we have at our preceptorships.

 

[deuist]

Nope. In fact, I've stopped using mine. You'll need one for third year, though.