PDA or Personal Planner

[MustangSVC]

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I'm getting ready to enter the clinic, and I've noticed a lot of upperclassmen w/ PDA's to keep track of appointments, patient info, etc. From your experience, are PDA's worth the purchase price or will a traditional day planner suffice? Thanks!

 

[li1p0ptart]

I purchased a pocket PC phone. The best part of it is the calendar. Its a lifesaver, even for pre-clinical courses. I think electronic is the way to go. Its easier to change appointments around, you can have reminders so you don't miss anything important, and you're much less likely to lose it because its worth a lot more. I also think it looks much more professional.

 

[MustangSVC]

...you're much less likely to lose it because its worth a lot more...

I can only hope! Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[airsimon]

i just got an ipod touch. with my macbook and ical im sure ill use it a bunch in d school.

 

[Kung Foo]

LOL - I just switched back to a paper planner for scheduling my patients. It's just so much easier to flip through everything on paper to schedule appointments, especially when I'm weeks out or need to jot something down quickly. I have a tiny cell phone that I can wear clipped to my scrub pants without it tugging them down. I do still keep my PDA with me when I'm in the emergency (toothache) clinic to reference odd drugs on a new med history. I can see where the cell phone/PDA or iPhone combos would be useful, but for me, the real datebook just works better for our clinics. The PDA was handy during the D1 and D2 years, but now that my schedule is simplified, sort of, I like the paper planner better.

Just my $0.02

 

[ProstHoney]

I also like my paper planner. I never have to worry about any computer problems and I can quickly check my availability to give me patient some dates to think of while the electronic scheduler online loads. An extra plus, I keep business cards in it so I can give them reminder cards before they leave.

Anything will buttons I will manage to break, sooner or later. Of course I accept none of the blame...