PDA necessary/useful?

[riverie]

I've been holding off getting a PDA and have survived well thus far. I was loaned one on Family and found it quite helpful. I was wondering if I should get one for residency. Does anyone think a PDA is particularly helpful in pediatrics and anyone think there's no going back since getting one?

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[DarthNeurology]

I've been holding off getting a PDA and have survived well thus far. I was loaned one on Family and found it quite helpful. I was wondering if I should get one for residency. Does anyone think a PDA is particularly helpful in pediatrics and anyone think there's no going back since getting one?

All of the PDA programs/technology can be easily fitted into a cell phone these days, so I would highly recommend getting a cell phone/pda combo I always have epocrates with me, but I don't need to worry about charging up a pda separately. (I don't have internet access through my phone though I could activate it). Eventually everybody will have something simillar to an iPhone in 5 years, i.e. WiFi/PDA programs/email/cell phone. Palm centrino smart phone is popular (I've seen residents use it a lot):

http://www.palm.com/us/

or just go to your cell phone provider and look at their new smart phone models, T-Mobile has a lot of them. I've found having an PDA/cell phone to be invaluable during clerkships such as medicine and peidatrics, I looked up a lot of medications my patients were on and sort of reviewed pharm that way. Some PDA programs are pretty cool, like let you view pda versions of NEJM articles, read the news. The palm TX was sweeet on one rotation as I used it to check my email for free via WiFi basically wherever/whenver I wanted, so if you are into apps this is the one to get. (Even cruised SDN during lunch break).

 

[TexasRose]

I've been holding off getting a PDA and have survived well thus far. I was loaned one on Family and found it quite helpful. I was wondering if I should get one for residency. Does anyone think a PDA is particularly helpful in pediatrics and anyone think there's no going back since getting one?

The only thing I use my PDA for is the calculator. My program has their own website for pharm stuff and computers are everywhere. I'll probably wind up with a cell/PDA combo in the future, but have been told it's not really needed for residency unless you're the type of person who likes to take notes on it or use it for scheduling and calendar stuff. I'll get back to you in a few months and let you know what I think. As for med school, no need to invest in one at this point.

 

[Stitch]

I'm with miss Texas, and my program has on line pharmacy (lexicomp) and up to date, so the only thing I need is a calculator, which is on my iPhone. So find out what your program has and determine whether you need it before dropping however many hundred bucks. Plus, as DarthNeuro says, most things can be loaded onto a smart phone.

 

[riverie]

Thanks for everyone's input! I think I'll wait for my current cellphone contract to expire in a year and then think about getting a smart phone. The only problem I had with upgrading my old phone to a smartphone last year was the exorbitant monthly data fee you had to pay with a smartphone on top of normal voice charges. (I have verizon.) That and the high cost of the phone itself, but I guess if I'd be paying $300 for a PDA I might as well pay that much for a PDA/phone. I ended up just getting a normal phone. Does anyone know if at&t has a better plan for smartphones? I'm trying to avoid sprint, as I've had friends who had really bad experiences with that carrier.

 

[riverie]

Another question: with smartphones, especially the Palm Treos, is it better to get Palm OS or Windows Mobile? I guess I'll also check out the Technology forum.

 

[Stitch]

Another question: with smartphones, especially the Palm Treos, is it better to get Palm OS or Windows Mobile? I guess I'll also check out the Techonology forum.

Sweet Tea and I both have iPhones. Love them. ATT isn't a great cell phone service compared to Verizon, but it's good enough, and the phone makes it worth it.

 

[riverie]

My foray into the technology forum has led to the following discovery -- you can download medical software onto Blackberries? I wonder if there're any limitations as to which software might or might not be compatible with them. I will definitely look into the iPhone; it seems like a popular option.

 

[edmadison]

The real question is "are you a PDA person". I'm a tech guy, but PDAs just slow me down too much. Part of the reason is that the PDA version of the Harriett Lane sucks. I did get the 5 minute peds consult on my PDA which was sort-of usefull for the first year or so, but then I outgrew it. I've tried PDAs 3 different time and all they end up doing for me is being an address book. Other people love them, however. I'd ask some residents in peds if they use them. I've seen very few.

Ed

 

[DingleBerry]

Has anyone used/can comment on the apple iPhone as a PDA/Phone in the medical field? I thought I remember hearing you cannot download programs like epocrates onto it...

thanks!

 

[Pontifex Maximus]

Another question: with smartphones, especially the Palm Treos, is it better to get Palm OS or Windows Mobile? I guess I'll also check out the Technology forum.

That is kind of a loaded question. Very personal preference. Most things are available for each OS. Windows is more flexible, especially for the techies among us, but Palm is simpler and easier to use.

 

[DarthNeurology]

The real question is "are you a PDA person". I'm a tech guy, but PDAs just slow me down too much. Part of the reason is that the PDA version of the Harriett Lane sucks. I did get the 5 minute peds consult on my PDA which was sort-of usefull for the first year or so, but then I outgrew it. I've tried PDAs 3 different time and all they end up doing for me is being an address book. Other people love them, however. I'd ask some residents in peds if they use them. I've seen very few.

Ed

I've seen medicine resident use them a lot, it is nice always have epocrates as I am not always within range of a computer, or it might be occupied, there are a lot of neat little me calc, programs with epocrates too. I would agree that a PDA version of Harriett Lane would suck, the real thing is easier to use but cumbersome. I bet that in the future they will have super lightweight pda with 7 inch screens and awesome books like Harriett Lane available, we are in transition now.

 

[Marigold]

I've got a Treo, and honestly, I don't really use it as a medical reference much. At my program it's very easy to find a computer to reference UTD or Lexi-Comp....I DO use my Treo for the calendar/schedulekeeping stuff, and I have enjoyed that.

I bought a Palm Tungsten during 2nd year of med school because I was told we "had to have one." Turns out I didn't use it AT ALL and I ended up selling it to my dad for $50 to help finance my new Treo a few months ago. I definitely prefer the all-in-one aspect of the smartphones...as my past history evidences, I just won't carry around 2 separate devices.

We'll see how much I use the other features of my treo during residency...

 

[oldbearprofessor]

I've been holding off getting a PDA and have survived well thus far.

I'm pretty sure you had a PDA before you were born, but at this point, they just get in the way and are noisy. I'm personally a fan of Indocin although I am waiting to see if the ibuprofen folks give away nice pens at SPR.

Have a good one!

 

[TexasRose]

I'm pretty sure you had a PDA before you were born, but at this point, they just get in the way and are noisy. I'm personally a fan of Indocin although I am waiting to see if the ibuprofen folks give away nice pens at SPR.

Have a good one!

 

[riverie]

I'm pretty sure you had a PDA before you were born, but at this point, they just get in the way and are noisy. I'm personally a fan of Indocin although I am waiting to see if the ibuprofen folks give away nice pens at SPR.

Have a good one!

lol

"My neighbor was wondering if I had a washing machine in my cwib"

What is this famed SPR OBP and TR are talking about??

 

[oldbearprofessor]

lol

"My neighbor was wondering if I had a washing machine in my cwib"

What is this famed SPR OBP and TR are talking about??

www.aps-spr.org

http://pediatrics.hawaiiconvention.com/

Actually, calling the meeting SPR (Society for Pediatric Research) is an old habit of mine. For the last 8-10 years or so it's been called PAS for Pediatric Academic Societies

 

[riverie]

For the last 8-10 years or so it's been called PAS for Pediatric Academic Societies

but PAS could be confused for Periodic Acid Schiff stain!