Should I get a PDA before M1?

[ice_23]

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SDN'ers,

I am currently applying for entrance into the 2004-2005 M1 class, and I was wondering if I should get a PDA to use (for what, I don't know yet) once I get into medical school. I've heard that some schools (i.e. UMich) force M3's and M4's to use PDA's to log patient data and other important details. I have never used one, so would it be beneficial for me to start using one soon so that I'm used to it by the time M3 rolls around? Is it really helpful (and hence, worth the cost of me buying one over the summer)?

Any help would be greatly appreciated! 🙂

Thanks,

Ice

 

[piu]

A PDA has a million and one useful functions. I'm sure you'll find lots of uses for it as soon as you get one. Its never to early to invest in one.

 

[Kalel]

I would not buy a pda now or for the next two years. You do not need one during your first two years, you should be using books as your primary source of information during your preclinical years and you can buy a scheduling and address book for other purposes. If you wait until 3rd year to buy one, your pda will be more advanced and they will be cheaper. I've noticed that pda's advance and decrease in price at a much slower rate then computers, but the difference between 2 yrs is definitely pretty noticable.

 

[Andrew_Doan]

One use for PDAs that I love the most is taking notes into the memo pad function. If you can't write fast enough, then get a keyboard. The PDA is then a portable laptop.

I've taken hundreds of pages of notes. When I need to do a quick recall, then I do a search and it pops up in less than 10 seconds. If you start as an M1 to enter pearls or mnemonics, then you'll have thousands of notes by the time you're a resident!

 

[Kalel]

Originally posted by Andrew_Doan
One use for PDAs that I love the most is taking notes into the memo pad function. If you can't write fast enough, then get a keyboard. The PDA is then a portable laptop.

I've taken hundreds of pages of notes. When I need to do a quick recall, then I do a search and it pops up in less than 10 seconds. If you start as an M1 to enter pearls or mnemonics, then you'll have thousands of notes by the time you're a resident!

Or, you could wait until third year and have someone beam their notes and mneumonics that they have been writing for the past 2 years over to your pda. 😉

 

[Andrew_Doan]

Originally posted by Kalel
Or, you could wait until third year and have someone beam their notes and mneumonics that they have been writing for the past 2 years over to your pda. 😉

You could... but you'll miss out on the mental reinforcement of transcribing the notes, learning the notes, and knowing that you actually have something noted! 😉

Plus, you'd have to trust the person beaming you the info to be accurate and correct. If you do it yourself, then you can make sure it's correct and decide on which topics need to be remembered/studied. 😀

 

[aksmd2008]

I'm PDA shopping for the first year right now too and I love the idea of typing notes and building a collection (why didn't I think of that?!)...this might sound like a silly concern but wouldn't the keyboard noise annoy your classmates? Maybe it's not that big of a deal but just curious...

aksmd2008

 

[Andrew_Doan]

Originally posted by aksmd2008
I'm PDA shopping for the first year right now too and I love the idea of typing notes and building a collection (why didn't I think of that?!)...this might sound like a silly concern but wouldn't the keyboard noise annoy your classmates? Maybe it's not that big of a deal but just curious...

aksmd2008

Most of the keyboards are very quiet. Some people type into laptops. If you're good with graffiti, then you can take notes by hand. I try to type quietly, and people get used to it... I hope. 😉

I take over 1/2 of my notes by graffiti.

 

[coconut lime]

anybody have advice/recommendations on PDA's? AMSA is offering a Tungsten E plus some medical programs for $250....is the Tungsten E pretty good or should I invest in something better? and what medical programs are the most useful, anyway? do they cost money? where do you get em?

thanks in advance for all your help!!

 

[Vincristine]

Sure a PDA can be helpful and cool and whatnot, however I have more than a few classmates who stick to pocket books and don't have PDA's because that's not their sort of thing.

So if you think you are actually going to use a PDA for M3, 2 things to keep in mind: 1. you want to know how to use it BEFORE you get to the wards, and 2. if you purchase something now (6 months before starting M1) you are almost certainly going to want to get something newer come M3.

You can do just fine without a PDA especially if it's not something you use already or otherwise aren't inclined to use. In case you're wondering, yes, I use my beloved PDA, but I started using a PDA in 1998 and replace it every 2 years approximately which means I spend about 6 mo with a "top of the line" PDA, 12 months being okay with it, and 6 mo waiting to buy a new one.

 

[uclacrewdude]

a PDA is more of a toy than a tool during your first 2 yrs. its a nice thing to have, but its not a necessity, like a laptop is. i actually use my pda a lot for the schedule, and a calculator whenever i forget my regular calculator. i guess its just cool b/c its a smaller version of a dayplanner, so i have my sched, addressbook, calculator, notepad, and medical mnemonics program all rolled into one (id also have a medical dictionary stored on it, but ive been having trouble ganking one online 😀). moreover, since its a zire71, its got a built in digital cam -- cruddy resolution, but good enough for me.

 

[doc05]

keep in mind that a pda is very much a toy during m3/m4 as well.

 

[Gleevec]

Palm OS or Windows?

 

[Andrew_Doan]

Originally posted by doc05
keep in mind that a pda is very much a toy during m3/m4 as well.

Not with Lexidrugs, 5 Minute Clinical Consult, and Harrisons. The latter two programs are great for formulating a differential diagnosis. If you use the Palm, then it can help greatly.

 

[Andrew_Doan]

Originally posted by Gleevec
Palm OS or Windows?

I like the Palm OS b/c I use Memo Pad to take notes, and then using the built in "FIND" function, I can quickly search my notes by keywords or partial keywords.

 

[rager1]

I'm a huge fan of the Sony Clie's but I must admit that Handspring's Treo line is pretty sweet.

--Rager