Taking notes in an iPad pro

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JavariPharmD23

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I’m a pre-pharmacy student I’m contemplating getting a iPad Pro to take my notes on. I’ve heard good things about it. I’m the type of person that likes to write my notes out I can’t explain it but it helps me retain the information better. Is there anyone out there that’s the same way? If you have you used the iPad to take notes and is it better than having paper notes.

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Nothing is better than paper notes... except for prescriptions. We should go completely paperless with that.
 
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I started medical school by writing everything in my iPad.... but ended up only writing the “softer” classes there and the rest on real paper. Still glad I have it. I still use it for some classes as I stated. Plus I have all my class files saved in my noteability. I also sometimes annotate files or PP from the professors. Further, once I do write out a block of notes for a specific exam, I scan them in together, make a PDF, and load that onto my noteability. They also just added a cool update to noteability that can learn and search your handwriting, not just typed words.
 
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I use an iPad Pro for classes and wouldn't change a thing. I use Notability and download the powerpoint presentations onto the app. I couldn't imagine taking actual paper notes during class. There is too much.
 
What stylus do you use? I have an ipad for work and tried going paperless but I NEED to rest my wrist when I write so I didn't have much success. I know there are BT styli but I didn't want to fork over the $100 just to hate it too.
 
What stylus do you use? I have an ipad for work and tried going paperless but I NEED to rest my wrist when I write so I didn't have much success. I know there are BT styli but I didn't want to fork over the $100 just to hate it too.
I use the Apple Pencil. It’s Bluetooth and probably the $100 option you are referring to lol.
 
I’m a pre-pharmacy student I’m contemplating getting a iPad Pro to take my notes on. I’ve heard good things about it. I’m the type of person that likes to write my notes out I can’t explain it but it helps me retain the information better. Is there anyone out there that’s the same way? If you have you used the iPad to take notes and is it better than having paper notes.

"I can’t explain it but it helps me retain the information better."

It's called good Apple marketing. When we are talking about Apple, which is a successful tech. company you should be going to a coding boot camp that will get you a job in months for thousands instead of going to school for years that will cost you hundreds of thousands.

App Academy
 
I started medical school by writing everything in my iPad.... but ended up only writing the “softer” classes there and the rest on real paper. Still glad I have it. I still use it for some classes as I stated. Plus I have all my class files saved in my noteability. I also sometimes annotate files or PP from the professors. Further, once I do write out a block of notes for a specific exam, I scan them in together, make a PDF, and load that onto my noteability. They also just added a cool update to noteability that can learn and search your handwriting, not just typed words.
That sounds really cool. I really want one but iPads are so expensive.
 
Be like Nike and Just Do It!

Seriously, don’t let $500 keep you from $$$,$$$! Same thing applies when you’re in pharmacy school or med school or where ever - don’t like $10-$15/hr keep you from $50+/hr..


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I have yet to find anyone who managed to completely replace paper with an iPad and maintain relative productivity.

I’d suggest you get a light laptop and one of the newer Wacom models. Type on the laptop, use the Wacom for diagramming and freeform. Whether the laptop screen is touch sensitive or not is dependent on the workflow.

It’s not as sexy, but Wacom as a supplement for typing actually is seen as workable in the business. I see it quite often in business presentations.
 
Be like Nike and Just Do It!

Seriously, don’t let $500 keep you from $$$,$$$! Same thing applies when you’re in pharmacy school or med school or where ever - don’t like $10-$15/hr keep you from $50+/hr..


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
So your saying it’s worth it and it works?
 
I personally used a laptop and would recommend going that route. Most of our handouts were in Word or PowerPoint format so I would take notes using Tracked Changes in Word and put notes in the notes area in PowerPoint (the area below the slides). The main advantage to this over the Notability + Apple Pencil route was that the notes were guaranteed SEARCHABLE (I'm not sure how good the Notability handwriting recognition is. It didn't exist when I was a student). It's a godsend when you're studying and you need to find that one little fact. When it came time to study for my boards, I could easily find anything and not have to poke around figuring out where a piece of information was located.

Years later, having my notes in a searchable format helped be through residency and now as a practicing pharmacist. These days I mainly use it as a tool to find things to help learners. Sometimes I just looking to find a better way of explaining something. Other times, I'm going back to find suggested readings. Heck there were also a few occasional instances where it helped with protocol development.

Regardless on how you choose to take notes, you should always have a copy in electronic format. Even if you better internalize things with paper (I'm included in this group), keep a copy electronic and file the electronic copy as you go. I give this advice to all my students and residents, particularly ones that are starting out. As you advance, the amount of information you will collect will be massive, and would you rather spend 2 days looking for something manually or type in a few keystrokes into your computer's search feature and get that information within 2 minutes?
 
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