PDAs

[pharmpoke]

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What kind of PDA should I get? I know nothing about them, but I think it's time to start looking for something. What kind of drug software do you use?

 

[dgroulx]

What kind of PDA should I get? I know nothing about them, but I think it's time to start looking for something. What kind of drug software do you use?

I use Lexicomp Complete. It's only $150 for students for one year. After playing around with it, you'll see which "books" you will want to keep. I use Lexi-Interact, Lexi-Calc, Lexi-Drugs, 5-minute Clinical Consult, Lexi-Lab, Med Abbreviations, Natural Products and Stedmans Dictionary most often.

I use a Palm Tungsten C. I like having a little keyboard for typing. I can look up things really quickly.

 

[Pharmcdc]

I use a Palm Tungsten C. I like having a little keyboard for typing. I can look up things really quickly.[/QUOTE]

Cool! I am still a pre-pharm, hopefully next year I will be a P1. Anyway, I have a Tungsten C as well. I have had it for about a year 1/2 and absolutely love it. There's not a lot that cant be done on it in comparison to a laptop(at least for class purposes anyway). I cant speak about pharm programs, but for functionality of the device 👍 👍 !

 

[LiveLoveFartRepeat]

Hello guys,

I can't beleive that there is just one person or two that use a pda in pharma school.

Please come and give us a feedback on your experience with your pda..if you recommend it or not.....

I suddenly realized that i need one, my school (UT Memphis) does not require one..
but i suddenly need one to keep up with my life and numerous events at school..

but if there is one out there that can be useful to my personal life and to drugs info as well it will be a good deal to make.

If you have one but don't use it for school purpose it's fine please come and give me your feedback on your toy...I don't know anything about PDAs

so i am looking for one easy to add things like appointment in it ( my cell phone is frustrating me..takes too long to just put one event in it).

What's about those cell phone PDA? are they as good as the pda alone?.

if there is a tread somewhere already about pda please give me the link to it.

Or if somebody know a web site where people talk about those toys in "real words"( not manufacturers) direct me to them.

Thanks.

 

[ultracet]

they give them to us our first year...

i have posted multiple threads on pdas as well as good programs...

 

[bananaface]

I am PDA shopping at the moment. Most people I have consulted are saying to get a pocket PC instead of a palm.

 

[yatzek]

do all pda's play software for lexicomp databases and "books".. i am thinking of getting a cheap $50 one but i am worried that it wont load any software

 

[CuRy]

I use Lexicomp Complete. It's only $150 for students for one year. After playing around with it, you'll see which "books" you will want to keep. I use Lexi-Interact, Lexi-Calc, Lexi-Drugs, 5-minute Clinical Consult, Lexi-Lab, Med Abbreviations, Natural Products and Stedmans Dictionary most often.

I use a Palm Tungsten C. I like having a little keyboard for typing. I can look up things really quickly.

I am with dgroulx!!

My pharmacy school doesn't require it, but some of my professors strongly recommend it. Just a few students have it! Most people STILL THINK it is a luxury high tech toy and required a high maintenance cost (softwares). In fact, it is CHEAP and READY-TO-USE (programs and applications). As a drug information is needed (such as in pharmaceutics lab), my professor usually assigns it as a homework (working at computer lab or library). Well, if you have a PDA, then you have all tools in your hand (drugs, diseases, and treatment too!) You are the MAN, especially as doing a lab report in class!

There are two top drug programs on my list: Lexi-Complete ( http//www.lexi.com ) and Epocrates Essentials ( http://www.epocrates.com ). Medical doctors use Epocrates because it contains drug informations as well as disease as treatment. I didn't know that Lexi-Complete contains informations on disease and treatment (Griffith's 5-Minute Clinical Consult and Lexi-Infectious Diseases); therefore, I bought Epocrates. My instructor recommends Lexi-Complete and I now agree with him (dgroulx likes it too!) You (student) have a rebate of $50, so you pay the same price as in Eprocrates ($150). Your school (library) and drug store subscribe Lexi-Comp. Eprocrates has drug prices while another doesn't have!

About PDA- I like my PalmOne Treo 650. It is look like a Palm Tungsten C (as dgroulx has!) Treo 650 is half-priced if it has a cell phone ($300) sponsored by Sprint, Verizon, or Cingular. You don't have to pay a service fee. Treo 650 has a built-in Camera and Camcorder. Its size just doubles the size of a cell phone. The screen is small but has very high resolution. It still contains a lot of lines and looks like as you work with your regular computer monitor. Palm Coporation makes a comparison for you (its prices are reasonable) ( http://www.palm.com/us/products/compare )

What is the difference between a PDA and Pocket PC? It is about the operation system software (platform). PDA uses "OS", while Pocket PC use "Windows". Well, it is like the comparison of APPLE (MACINTOSH) COMPUTER vs PERSONAL COMPUTER. However, here is OPPOSITE, with a small screen (handheld) "OS" is better than "Windows". There are more and cheaper softwares built for OS (or Palm) than Pocket PC.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Summary of Lexi-Complete vs Epocrates:

Lexi-Complete includes:

Lexi-Drugs
Pediatric Lexi-Drugs
Griffith's 5-Minute Clinical Consult
Lexi-Natural Products
Lexi-Poisoning & Toxicology
Lexi-Infectious Diseases
Lexi-Lab & Diagnostic Procedures
Lexi-Interact
Dental Lexi-Drugs
Nursing Lexi-Drugs
Medical Abbreviations
Lexi-Pharmacogenomics
LEXI-PALS Patient Advisory Leaflets
Stedman's Medical Dictionary - Concise
Nuclear Biological and Chemical (NBC) Exposure Database
NEW! Lexi-CALC
And - any database added to the Lexi-Comp On-Hand Library during your annual subscription


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Epocrates Essentials:

Epocrates Essentials provides quick, reliable answers to a wide range of questions.

Drug-Drug Interactions (including herbals) Does St. John's wort interact with Zoloft?
Lab-Drug Interactions What drugs interfere with C-reactive protein test results?
Abnormal Lab Differentials and Follow-Up What tests should I run to confirm renal failure in a high BNP patient?
Dosage Calculations How much Zithromax should I give a 40-lb child with pneumonia?
Disease Basics What's the 5-year survival rate for cervical cancer?
Infectious Disease Treatment Regimens What drugs are recommended for post-procedural septic arthritis?
Drug Pricing and Formularies Is Nexium covered? What's the co-pay? What's the cash price?
IV Compatibility Can I administer ceftazidime with digoxin?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[dgroulx]

I am PDA shopping at the moment. Most people I have consulted are saying to get a pocket PC instead of a palm.

My husband said that he thinks the Pocket PC will prevail because it runs Windows. I prefer the Palm OS. It is smaller & takes up less memory which leaves you more room for software without buying an additional memory card.

Even without that advantage, I'd still probably buy a Palm as I don't want to contribute to the evil empire.

If you're looking at places like Circuit City, they push whatever they have the highest profit margin on. A friend of mine worked there for a while.

 

[pinkyrx]

Even without that advantage, I'd still probably buy a Palm as I don't want to contribute to the evil empire.

I tried that for a while and they finally won me over.


I have a Palm but don't really use it that much for school. I'm not working a lot right now, but if I was I think I'd use the Palm much more. I have the free epocrates program and its perfect for my needs at this level.

I had planned on using my palm as a planner, but I've found its much quicker for me to just use my old paper planner. I'm sure if I'd work with my Palm more it would get easier to use, but I just never gave it a real try.

btw, one of the downsides to having the phone/palm combination is that its much bigger than todays small cell phones. I don't need my palm on the weekends, so I wouldn't want to lug that huge thing around.

 

[CuRy]

I select some views on PDA from our SDN members:

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.

If your library subscribes Clinical Pharmacology, then you have it free for PDA. It has Drug Information, Drug Interactions, and IV Alerts. However, these information are very short descriptions. If you are interested in learning diseases and treatments and playing it on free time (waiting for appointment), then I recommend Lexi Complete. Just like you spend it ($150) for another textbook.

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.

If you (lady) don't want to have a combo with a cell phone, you could buy a Palm Tungsten C for a half price ($300). It costs $100 more than a regular Palm. You need to have high speed internet (cable internet) to down load softwares (about 5-10 minutes). You don't need to update often, so you could use at your friend's computer (once a year is still fine!) I don't have any problems such as freeze screen or shutdown (crash) with my Palm yet.

bbmuffin provides a useful link on PDA Resourses for pharmacists.

HanDBase: Make up your own databases or download the ones on the website. I have things such as Medical Spanish and a Herbal Database
http://www.ddhsoftware.com/

GlobalRpH.com: Has for purchase programs that aid in calculating doses
http://globalrph.com

Epocrates: Has a free drug formulary and reference program and also more complete programs for purchase.
http://epocrates.com

Lexi-Comp: Has multiple databases (very similar to the book versions). Also has a calculator now too. This is the only one I really know the price of and it's expensive.
http://www.lexi-comp.com

Clinical Pharmacology: If your school of pharmacy/ work has access to Clinical Pharmacology you can download their database for free. I'm unsure about the status without access to the internet.

Micromedex: If your school or workplace has a subscription to Micromedex online you can now download it onto your PDA.
http://www.micromedex.com/products/healthcare/druginfo/

Sanford Guide: The resource for antibiotic use. Now can be purchased for PDA.
http://www.sanfordguide.com/

Medical Letter: The Medical Letter is a review of studies and gives recommendations based on them. Can now be purchased for PDA.
http://medicalletter.com/


Most treatment guidelines can also be downloaded onto a PDA. They typically require Adobe Acrobat for PDA however that is free and so are the guidelines.
Check the individual sites for these guidelines.


Feel free to add and if you have anything in particular you're looking for post b/c i'm sure i forgot a lot of the programs my classmates use.

 

[aptekmies]

More pocket pcs have wireless cards...internet on the pda is pretty handy. I think palm only has one with a wifi and it is like $500. I have a pocket pc i paid 260 for and it has wifi and lexi-complete. I have no complaints

 

[LiveLoveFartRepeat]

thanks to every body for these numerous responses...I feel better informed now about PDA and what they can do for me.

I have a suggestion for the "moderators" of our forum..it there a way to open a "permanent" tread about PDA and pocket pc or communication device in general that relate to phamacy school and students...and make it obvious...

Since this is going to come back over and over as new students and old ones feel the need to get one of those toy at any moment of their curriculum...

I have no clue how or even if it is possible..but i was just thinking that it will be cool...

 

[dgroulx]

More pocket pcs have wireless cards...internet on the pda is pretty handy. I think palm only has one with a wifi and it is like $500. I have a pocket pc i paid 260 for and it has wifi and lexi-complete. I have no complaints

That's not true. Palm makes several handhelds with Wi-Fi. My Tungsten-C has built in Wi-Fi and it lists for $399. You can get it for less than list price. If you don't need the built-in keyboard, a traditional color Palm with Wi-Fi will list for under $200.

 

[UTCPharm]

Those of you who have a Tungsten C: it seems like a great PDA, I really love the thought of having a built-in keyboard, and that is surprisingly hard to find. I've been reading reviews for it, and there have been some really good ones but I keep seeing something about the screen breaking...anybody here have that problem? Also, if somebody could recommend another good PDA with a built-in keyboard I'd appreciate it!

 

[ultracet]

i hate the built in keyboard that i'm now confined to... i much prefer grafiti

 

[dgroulx]

Those of you who have a Tungsten C: it seems like a great PDA, I really love the thought of having a built-in keyboard, and that is surprisingly hard to find. I've been reading reviews for it, and there have been some really good ones but I keep seeing something about the screen breaking...anybody here have that problem? Also, if somebody could recommend another good PDA with a built-in keyboard I'd appreciate it!

I haven't had any problem with my screen breaking and I drop my Tungsten-C on the pavement while getting out of my car at least once a week.

I did hear that Palm OS is going away. They will be putting Windows CE on the Palms in the future.

 

[ultracet]

I haven't had any problem with my screen breaking and I drop my Tungsten-C on the pavement while getting out of my car at least once a week.

I did hear that Palm OS is going away. They will be putting Windows CE on the Palms in the future.

they will start with the treos 1/2006