PDA iphone blackberry for 3rd year?

[nope80]

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Do most students have these? If so what do they use them for (pardon my ignorance about this)🙂? Is it worth the extra money to get one of these? I'm just trying to figure out what applications people use to see if it is something that is necessary.

 

[doc20]

it really helps to have 3g internet available and be able to look up stuff on touch
there is also uptodate which i think is a great resource
and epocrates is very helpful for drug doses and such

 

[Tori's dad]

I have used diagnosaurus, epocrates and dynamed many times in the clinical setting. THere is a netter anatomy application available that would be useful if I had the money to pay for it. I used this quite a bit on my family medicine rotation, and I imagine it will come in handy on medicine as well. I did not find it useful on urology, anesthesia, neuro, psych.

 

[bigDinLV]

Something with Epocrates will be very useful. It's great when a resident asks if you happen to have it for some dose, then boooo when you don't have it on you. You can use it for doses, disease info, even to help with differentials, a lot of different things.

 

[gluon999]

Just out of curiosity (not to hijack this thread) but does anyone know if epocrates works with non-pda phones like LG Dare, Voyager, ENV2, etc? I am thinking of getting a new phone besides the I-phone or blackberry that would be compatible with epocrates.

 

[NeuroTox]

I got the Blackberry Bold and have pretty much everything I need availble on it.

 

[bjackrian]

Just out of curiosity (not to hijack this thread) but does anyone know if epocrates works with non-pda phones like LG Dare, Voyager, ENV2, etc? I am thinking of getting a new phone besides the I-phone or blackberry that would be compatible with epocrates.

I have a Motorola Q (which runs on Windows Mobile 6) and there is a version of Epocrates for it (that supposedly works on all Windows Mobile phones). Coming from Palm, I was surprised that it only included the forumlary and one of the other Epocrates programs that required the touch screen that Palm provided.

 

[yohimbine1]

I like my Blackberry Curve a lot. I would get a Bold but I'm not with AT&T. Avoid the Storm. Also Apple products aren't for me. Don't get a simple PDA; they're obsolete now without phone functionality and preferably some camera functionality as well.

Consider a Blackberry over a Q. It has far more functionality. There's a reason corporate America has fallen in love with it.

 

[gluon999]

I like my Blackberry Curve a lot. I would get a Bold but I'm not with AT&T. Avoid the Storm. Also Apple products aren't for me. Don't get a simple PDA; they're obsolete now without phone functionality and preferably some camera functionality as well.

Consider a Blackberry over a Q. It has far more functionality. There's a reason corporate America has fallen in love with it.

With the blackberry, do you have to get the internet/email plan? Can you just get the phone minutes but skip the internet plan? As far as I've heard, that is not possible...is that right?

 

[bjackrian]

Consider a Blackberry over a Q. It has far more functionality. There's a reason corporate America has fallen in love with it.

It's true that the Blackberries are more functional, but at least when I bought mine a few months ago, the Q was >$100 cheaper, and I don't need/want the added functionality of the Blackberry. If you'll use the extra functionality, the Blackberry is definitely the way to go.

 

[QofQuimica]

How much does the email plan cost for a Blackberry on top of paying for phone service? Can you bundle them and get a discount if you order both?

Also, forgive my ignorance, but what is a Q? 😳

 

[bjackrian]

Motorola Q

 

[JHopRevisit]

If you're looking for a cheaper alternative, keep your current phone and get an ipod touch as a supplement. You can load epocrates and other medical apps and use your hospitals wifi to access online resources. It's $200, but you don't have to pay the ridiculous monthly charges and don't have to switch over to AT&T. Honestly, since my entire life is spent in the hospital now, $30 a month is just not worth it for the few hours I'm out of wifi range. Just waiting for a good off-line differential application and I'll be all set.

Plus its fun. I'm usually an apple hater, and I'll never get an apple desktop/laptop, but you have to give it to them, they make good, simple, fun stuff.

 

[treonaut]

Yeah,

some kind of pda is good, especially something with email access. I didn't realize this until midway through my fourth year (a few months ago) when I switched from a palm treo (no data plan) to a blackberry, and suddenly i was replying to emails about interviews within minutes or hours instead of a day or so. Sometimes interview spots are filled up and if you can get back to the coordinator within a few hours means that you get that interview spot compared to someone who just checks their email once or twice a day.

 

[doozenberg]

How much does the email plan cost for a Blackberry on top of paying for phone service? Can you bundle them and get a discount if you order both?

Also, forgive my ignorance, but what is a Q? 😳

I have a BlackBerry on Verizon and I pay $30/month for the unlimited internet/email data plan alone. I do not believe there is a discount; in fact, my understanding is some type of data plan is required if you have a BlackBerry, at least on Verizon.

 

[inthe415]

So many cool apps! My current preceptor has me look up info from epocrates while we're talking with patients. Also useful are the med cards, lange flash cards, epoymous, normal lab values, and many more. It seem sthat every week a new med related app pops up.

There is even a voice recorder app that I use.

 

[RxnMan]

I have a 650 Treo (combined PDA & phone) with the full version of Epocrates installed. It, with a few Epocrates add-ons (medCalc, BMI recommendations, etc) are all I need. I use it daily. I also update the schedule function at the beginning of each rotation to store all of my schedules (classes, clinics, inpt) in one place.

 

[nlax30]

So many cool apps! My current preceptor has me look up info from epocrates while we're talking with patients. Also useful are the med cards, lange flash cards, epoymous, normal lab values, and many more. It seem sthat every week a new med related app pops up.

There is even a voice recorder app that I use.

Are you using the full epocrates version that just came out? If so how do you like it?

I think I'm going the iPhone route when I start rotations in June. Have an old HP ipaq and I'm kind of a gadget guy so I'm comfortable with windows mobile..... at this point though I just don't want to have to put up with it's issues, and the interface on the iphone is just soo nice I think I'm sold.

 

[Captain Fantastic]

Are you using the full epocrates version that just came out? If so how do you like it?

I think I'm going the iPhone route when I start rotations in June...

I have the full ePocrates on my iPod Touch. It's nice.

 

[Man In White]

The updated ePocrates for iPhone has many new features, but I'd like to see a function to generate a differential for a given symptom. Also, the medical information portion is still lacking in breadth (the pharm portion kicks ass as always).

When that is done and Sanford releases its iPhone version and someone gets UpToDate on the iPhone I'll be set. :>