PDA useful for pharmacy school?

[letjin]

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I see on the other boards that many medical students own PDA's. Is it of any use for pharmacy students? If you have one what do you use it for?

 

[imperial frog]

1st year...not so much use. Lately though I've been finding good use for it as I'm learning the drug classes.

 

[LVPharm]

I have an older Dell Axim X5, and it was indispensable during my rotation year. It had LexiComp platinum edition...which is overkill, since I only use Lexi-Drugs, and Griffiths 5 minute clinical consult with any regularity, while the entire software suite has stuff like Dental Lexi Drugs, and Nursing Lexi Drugs, which I never used. Otherwise, having those programs, and Archimedes (a free medical calculator from Skyscape) on a small PDA sure beats carrying around a copy of the Drug Information Handbook. Don't spend too much on a PDA. The Palm device (like the Tungsten E2) is preferable to a Windows Mobile Edition device. Palm is much quicker, less prone to crashing, and has a plethora of medical freeware available for it. My Dell PDA regularly locks up, and that Archimedes program was one of only a few free medical program available for the platform.

 

[Caverject]

I have a Palm T3 and so far it has paid off quite a few times for me.

 

[letjin]

So PDA works mostly as a lightweight reference? Did any of you find it helpful as an organizer or do you prefer pencil & paper.

 

[imperial frog]

The Palm device (like the Tungsten E2) is preferable to a Windows Mobile Edition device. Palm is much quicker, less prone to crashing, and has a plethora of medical freeware available for it.

The Windows platforms have much better games though. Not more, just better. I've had both and prefer the windows platform much better.

 

[imperial frog]

So PDA works mostly as a lightweight reference? Did any of you find it helpful as an organizer or do you prefer pencil & paper.

As far as school goes, the only thing I've used it for was for drug reference. I've found that the old-fashioned way of writing down my appointments is much faster.

 

[LVPharm]

I never use my pocketpc as a datebook...I just write stuff down.

As for games, yeah I'll give you that...I've got tons of good games I can put on my PocketPC that I'm never gonna be able to get for the Palm. But I'm going off to do my residency, and just placed an order for a new Palm, not a new PocketPC. Games will do me (or you) no good when you are up on the floors. I've had both in the past, and since, to me at least, Palms tend to be quicker and lighter, I can't think of anything better to carry in my coat pocket to whip out during rounds when I have to look something up quickly. I'd rather not carry around dog-eared drug info handbooks like I've seen some people do...and at least these electronic drug references are always updated automatically when I synch the PDA to my PC.

Looking for a mobile gaming platform? Buy yourself a PSP! 😉

 

[rxgal8]

Through Lexi-Comp we can get a year subscription of the complete package for $150. That's a good deal I guess but I need to get the actual PDA first. I don't want to spend too much money on a palm, since I'll only be using it for pharmacy-related stuff. What would you guys recommend? Sony? Tungsten? (obviously I have no idea what's out there 😳 )

 

[Jeddevil]

My lexicomp subscription was about 70 bucks. I didn't want or need the full package. Through our school we have access to several other cool programs for free, like MD-consults pocket version "pocket consult", mobile MDX which is a mobile version tied to micromedex, and some others, such as Mosby's Drug Consult. It is really more info than I know what to do with yet but since it was free, I had to get it.

I bought a dell axim x50 and have been very happy with it. I don't know about the comment on it being slower than palms. I can't personally compare the two, but the dell has been very quick. It also has some pretty cool game capabilities which come in handy during boring lectures when you have that urge to play "age of empires". With an added 2 gig jumpdrive, I loaded all kinds of music and am able to use it for music also instead of carrying around another device. Good luck shopping, there seems to be a lot of nice handhelds out there that are all pretty similar.

 

[rxgal8]

My lexicomp subscription was about 70 bucks. I didn't want or need the full package. Through our school we have access to several other cool programs for free, like MD-consults pocket version "pocket consult", mobile MDX which is a mobile version tied to micromedex, and some others, such as Mosby's Drug Consult. It is really more info than I know what to do with yet but since it was free, I had to get it.

I bought a dell axim x50 and have been very happy with it. I don't know about the comment on it being slower than palms. I can't personally compare the two, but the dell has been very quick. It also has some pretty cool game capabilities which come in handy during boring lectures when you have that urge to play "age of empires". With an added 2 gig jumpdrive, I loaded all kinds of music and am able to use it for music also instead of carrying around another device. Good luck shopping, there seems to be a lot of nice handhelds out there that are all pretty similar.

Actually, you're right. Now that I think about it, I doubt I'll need the entire Lexi Complete package. I'll look into the other deals they have 👍

 

[dgroulx]

Actually, you're right. Now that I think about it, I doubt I'll need the entire Lexi Complete package. I'll look into the other deals they have 👍

I was going to get the Lexi Complete package, too. I have a Tungsten C sitting in a box on my desk and I was going to start loading it this week.

I saw Lexi Complete for $150 off of ASP website. Is there another place that I can go to get student pricing on just the modules that I want?

 

[rxgal8]

I was going to get the Lexi Complete package, too. I have a Tungsten C sitting in a box on my desk and I was going to start loading it this week.

I saw Lexi Complete for $150 off of ASP website. Is there another place that I can go to get student pricing on just the modules that I want?

I think you can download the programs for free at:
http://epocrates.com
but they're probably not as detailed as lexi-comp. I might get the complete subscription during my third year when I go on rotations but till then, the free software should be sufficient.
I don't know off any other sites where you can get the subscribed software.

 

[LVPharm]

I think you can download the programs for free at:
http://epocrates.com
but they're probably not as detailed as lexi-comp. I might get the complete subscription during my third year when I go on rotations but till then, the free software should be sufficient.
I don't know off any other sites where you can get the subscribed software.

When I had a palm, I used epocrates, which was a free download for palm pda's...at the time, the pocketpc version wasn't free. Haven't checked into it lately. If your school or hospital has a subscription to Micromedex, you may be able to download a copy of mobileMicromedex http://www.micromedex.com/products/mobilemicromedex/
which isn't too bad, and is also regularly updated. It's available for both Palm and PocketPC.

 

[ultracet]

if your school uses clinical pharmacology they also now have it for palm
which is free if you have the initial log in

 

[DrPharm]

The answer is DEFINITELY YES! And i've witnessed it even in retail. The pharmacist i'm working for uses a PDA all the time. He pulls it out when counseling patients, looking up answers to questions, and for his schedule. It's a great tool.

But yea, you won't need one until rotations or for your labs if you prefer.

 

[TotalKayOs]

i find that i during 4th, 5th and now 6th year i used may palm all the time. actully less now becasue i am more familiar with most the drugs. it's great for quick refrence and i prefer the clinical pharmacology program as opposed to micromedex or epocrates. i also use a medical dictionary and have a sanford guide on there. i have lexi-comp too but rarely use it. i also advise asking around at school for cracked versions of the software, it works just as well and it's free.