Pda

[amy68]

And not the touchy-feely kind.

 

How necessary are PDAs for Clerkship/Residency?

 

Also, I'm not sure which route to take...

 

Though I could just get a basic model, a friend and I were discussing how we feel the PDA is going the way of 8-tracks and flower print polyester... and so I'm wondering if shelling out a bit more money for a blackberry or an iPhone/Touch (in the event that I can get the programs I want for the latter), might be a better option.

 

Thoughts?

[Lactic Folly]

If you have ready access to the internet, not strictly necessary.. but often times it is useful to have references at hand when in a patient's room or in a peripheral site, in which case your choices are a handheld device or carrying a bunch of books.

[BlackJack]

I do not use PDAs, nor do I ever plan on it.

 

PDAs are only really useful for drug dosings. Why spend $400 on a PDA when you can get Tarascon's and the Sanford guide for less than 40 bucks?

 

But you're right about PDAs going the way of Beta-max. The new rage is handheld computers(iphone etc) that use the Mac OS or Windows, instead of that blasted useless Palm OS that PDAs sported.

 

Personally, I'd feel paranoid about carting a half-grand piece of equipment into a place where bodily fluids and resistant bacteria are liberally strewn about. I can always remorselessly trash a cheap pocketbook that someone pukes on, but an iPhone....it would be a sad day.

[Lactic Folly]

I highly recommend getting a case for your PDA if you have one. This is more to protect it against the forces of gravity than any bodily fluids, as presumably you would put it back in your pocket or at least step back a bit.. the case can also be wiped down with antiseptic (though I don't know what we can do for our backpacks!).

 

I have been looking up information from clinical handbooks as much as drug guides - useful when you're seeing a patient in clinic or emerg and don't want to interrupt the interview to go look something up on the computer.

[blinknoodle]

Some people love their PDA and others hate it. I have heard a few people say they never bothered to charge it up once the battery died. Using it as an all-in-one if you use it as a phone, day calendar, etc, really beefs up its utility. Personally, I still use my PDA in residency, mainly for drug stuff, but also for med math. I have a whole bunch of handbooks for my PDA but rarely use them.

[street_med]

Hey

 

I totally recommend an iPhone for clerkship especially if you like everything to be all in one device.(music, phone, internet, email, drug reference) Also, skyscape has finally come out with medical reference software for the iPhone so all the more reason to get it!