Inters seem to be chained to these things, but I haven't seem many pathologists using them. Pros/cons, opinions???
Should I buy a palm pilot before the residency starts?
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I don't think there is much need for a palm in path. This is pure speculation but what you it be used for? The only thing I use mine for is epocrates and I doubt I will have to use it that often (if ever) in pathology. I have seen some people with the merck manual, harrison's, etc on their palm so I would imagine that there is a digital robbins and other pathology texts converted to palm but I doubt they are practical. Also, you can bet that these handheld versions don't have the pictures seen in the original text books since they would take up too much memory and the pic would be too small anyway. Palms do have some good points though. The palm makes you look cool and technically proficient. Most of the time though, if you actually look to see what the intern/student is doing on their palm, it is usually not related to medicine at all! Palms got games, email, some have internet...so really the user can LOOK really busy but who knows what they are doing. I plan on retiring my palm when residency starts because I find it just another distraction. Funny story...today at grand rounds we had a lecture on Lyme disease (seems like we get lectured on this all the time...). About half way through I look around the lecture hall and about half of the students and residents are playing with their palms. 
I am sure that they are all reading harrisons right...Also, some don't even bother to turn the sound off so you hear a nearly silent beep...beep...click...beep. These things are such a distraction! I wish everyone would take their palms and cell phones and torch 'em. So, in short, I don't think you need a palm. You may want to consider getting one of those new gameboy's. They look like a palm and their games are much better
I am sure that they are all reading harrisons right...Also, some don't even bother to turn the sound off so you hear a nearly silent beep...beep...click...beep. These things are such a distraction! I wish everyone would take their palms and cell phones and torch 'em. So, in short, I don't think you need a palm. You may want to consider getting one of those new gameboy's. They look like a palm and their games are much better 
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Palm Pilots are symptomatic of the diseased path that a once great society has taken towards its grave. Fairly soon, no one will have to even learn anything anymore, for it shall be on the palm pilot.
I confess, I have one. I did not pay for it. I received it as a gift about 3 years ago, and I installed epocrates. I must admit, epocrates is a fine tool. The free version is plenty. Although no doubt the free version will cease to exist soon. I am currently in my last month of clinical medicine, and daily I hear whines from my palm pilot about how it's usefullness is fading, and it sees its target date for elimination as several weeks time. There will be no reprieve for this thing. As I do not believe in the death penalty (I once did, but now I have flip flopped), it will survive, but be exiled to the back of a drawer along with the otoscope, the pack of 3x5 floppy discs, and my book on how to read EKGs. All of which will probably be exhumed in thousands of years, in pristine and untouched condition, when the aliens arrive to explore the now burnt out and lifeless earth, destroyed when the armies of Walmart, Microsoft, and Ikea met in a titanic battle royale to decide world superiority, which left no survivors.
I have tried, oh how I have tried. I thought that the schedule function on the palm pilot would serve useful, but instead I used a piece of paper and a pen, and this was more satisfactory. I thought the listing of addresses and phone numbers would serve useful, but no. It did not. The solitaire also, frankly, was as much fun as staring at a wall.
There are probably palm programs that may help with immunohistochemistry algorithms or blood bank scenarios, I don't know. Maybe someday I will see the light and my palm pilot will be my right hand man. You certainly won't need it though. Save your money. Buy yourself a nice steak dinner instead. Or buy the Band of Brothers DVD set. Good stuff.
I confess, I have one. I did not pay for it. I received it as a gift about 3 years ago, and I installed epocrates. I must admit, epocrates is a fine tool. The free version is plenty. Although no doubt the free version will cease to exist soon. I am currently in my last month of clinical medicine, and daily I hear whines from my palm pilot about how it's usefullness is fading, and it sees its target date for elimination as several weeks time. There will be no reprieve for this thing. As I do not believe in the death penalty (I once did, but now I have flip flopped), it will survive, but be exiled to the back of a drawer along with the otoscope, the pack of 3x5 floppy discs, and my book on how to read EKGs. All of which will probably be exhumed in thousands of years, in pristine and untouched condition, when the aliens arrive to explore the now burnt out and lifeless earth, destroyed when the armies of Walmart, Microsoft, and Ikea met in a titanic battle royale to decide world superiority, which left no survivors.
I have tried, oh how I have tried. I thought that the schedule function on the palm pilot would serve useful, but instead I used a piece of paper and a pen, and this was more satisfactory. I thought the listing of addresses and phone numbers would serve useful, but no. It did not. The solitaire also, frankly, was as much fun as staring at a wall.
There are probably palm programs that may help with immunohistochemistry algorithms or blood bank scenarios, I don't know. Maybe someday I will see the light and my palm pilot will be my right hand man. You certainly won't need it though. Save your money. Buy yourself a nice steak dinner instead. Or buy the Band of Brothers DVD set. Good stuff.
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Nilf said:
First of all, find out if the program will buy one for you.
Secondly, find out if anyone else is using them, if the first question is no.
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Now that you ask, I don't think I've seen any Path residents with Palm Pilots--or Pathologists with them, for that matter.
I have a question for Yaah, perhaps slightly off topic (but still dealing with the dreaded Palm Pilot): a lot of my friends have these real pricey ones, and many others are buying them in anticipation for the start of clinicals this Fall. I have a cheapo one that I honestly never use--definitely more of a pen and paper person. Is it really THAT useful during clinical rotations? Personally, if asked a question, I'd rather say that I didn't know the answer rather than beeping and clicking through Harrison's to find the answer.
Besides, drop a Palm pilot, and you very well may be screwed. Or let the battery run down (as I do in mine due to lack of use)--and the memory erases! So much for using it for addresses and telephone numbers!
I have a question for Yaah, perhaps slightly off topic (but still dealing with the dreaded Palm Pilot): a lot of my friends have these real pricey ones, and many others are buying them in anticipation for the start of clinicals this Fall. I have a cheapo one that I honestly never use--definitely more of a pen and paper person. Is it really THAT useful during clinical rotations? Personally, if asked a question, I'd rather say that I didn't know the answer rather than beeping and clicking through Harrison's to find the answer.
Besides, drop a Palm pilot, and you very well may be screwed. Or let the battery run down (as I do in mine due to lack of use)--and the memory erases! So much for using it for addresses and telephone numbers!
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Hey Brian
As for palms during rotatations..I found it most useful to have epocrates, preg wheel, and doc's with such useful things as vaccine schedules (for peds). Also, medrules and medcalc helps too. I found the palm to be useful when writing notes, making plans, looking up drugs. Of course, most of these things are also available in paper format, which you can stick into your pocket. Whatever suits you...
As for palms during rotatations..I found it most useful to have epocrates, preg wheel, and doc's with such useful things as vaccine schedules (for peds). Also, medrules and medcalc helps too. I found the palm to be useful when writing notes, making plans, looking up drugs. Of course, most of these things are also available in paper format, which you can stick into your pocket. Whatever suits you...
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caffeinegirl said:
LOL, just had a terrible thought. Find a drug rep, and get one from him. Don't tell him you're in path, though......
I think palm devices are awesome if used correctly. Some programs like Isilo allow you to carry whole textbooks (including Robbins) around with you. I do not have one but have seen people carrying Robbins, Sabiston, Netter, Harrisons all on one handheld device. Its nice to be able to review something right away when you are inclined to think about it. Although I agree with Yaah that over time we could completely forget how to remember (huh), I think we should adapt to using these amazing devices merely for the breadth of information we need to master.
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I was able to buy a palm using the book fund money from my program. I use it every day. It is very handy for keeping track of all the different numbers you need to have available. Also, I need it to remember what I have to do each day. There is a great free program called Today that brings up a screen each time you turn on your palm (it can be adjusted so that it will only come up when you haven't turned the palm on for a certain length of time as well---e.g. an hour) that shows your scheduled events for the day. Also, I use the eponyms program to look up some of the eponymous syndromes and the like. On autopsy, epocrates can sometimes be useful. I've also used the palm for storing word files of notes and excel files of our conference schedules.
Obviously, I'm a fan of Palm Pilots. However, you can get by without one in path more so than other fields. Lots of my fellow residents don't carry one with them.
Obviously, I'm a fan of Palm Pilots. However, you can get by without one in path more so than other fields. Lots of my fellow residents don't carry one with them.
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The PDA is good for one thing only: playing Dope Wars while bored but still need to look productive.
Otherwise, it's all about illegible scribbles on scraps of paper that go into various pockets, that I will inevitably forget about and put through the wash. The survivors just end up in a crumpled pile on my desk. A bastion of efficiency, I am not.
Otherwise, it's all about illegible scribbles on scraps of paper that go into various pockets, that I will inevitably forget about and put through the wash. The survivors just end up in a crumpled pile on my desk. A bastion of efficiency, I am not.
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Brian, I would definitely stick with the el cheapo. An expensive palm pilot really doesn't provide a lot of extra stuff. You can always get extra memory. And most of the important stuff you would need the palm pilot for will work on the basic one. Palm pilots do usually have ways of connecting to your computer so that everytime you charge it you can "sync" it and if your memory was erased, it will be replaced by whatever is stored on your computer since the last time you "synced" it. God I hate the fact that I know that.
Yeah, they can be nice for "scheduled events" but I like to keep my memory active, thus if I depend on my palm pilot to remember my schedule for me, I feel like I am cheating or something. Plus, I am the kind of person who would forget to check the palm pilot to remind me of my schedule (yes, I know there is an alarm function, but I HATE beeping things and would refuse to use that on principle). I would get home at the end of the day, check my list, and say, "darnit all, why didn't I write that appointment down on a piece of paper and put it in my pocket, then I would have remembered that meeting." Lots of people I have been on clinical rotations with have those infernal beeping palm pilots that go off like 5 minutes before a scheduled appointment. Sometimes I like to be a smartass and, when I see that it is 6 minutes before the meeting, remind the person that they have a meeting coming up. I HATE going to morning report or whatver the conference is and seeing residents and students using their palm pilots (I don't know if they are taking notes or playing monopoly on there, either way it's rude). And if I was an attending on rounds, I would ban palm pilots except for checking doses of medications.
I can see, doctor B, that it would be handy for keeping track of all the innumerable phone numbers I have to have on hand. Curse you for reminding me of the one potentially useful palm pilot function! Then again, I have ways around it. Like a sheet of paper with numbers on it, or just dialing the operator.
The palm pilot will not steal my memory. I will triumph over it.
You know what else bothers me? The A in PDA stands for "assistant." (Doesn't it?). You're not my assistant, you're a piece of machinery that doesn't work half the time. If you want to be my assistant then why don't you do rectal exams or other objectionable tasks.
Yeah, they can be nice for "scheduled events" but I like to keep my memory active, thus if I depend on my palm pilot to remember my schedule for me, I feel like I am cheating or something. Plus, I am the kind of person who would forget to check the palm pilot to remind me of my schedule (yes, I know there is an alarm function, but I HATE beeping things and would refuse to use that on principle). I would get home at the end of the day, check my list, and say, "darnit all, why didn't I write that appointment down on a piece of paper and put it in my pocket, then I would have remembered that meeting." Lots of people I have been on clinical rotations with have those infernal beeping palm pilots that go off like 5 minutes before a scheduled appointment. Sometimes I like to be a smartass and, when I see that it is 6 minutes before the meeting, remind the person that they have a meeting coming up. I HATE going to morning report or whatver the conference is and seeing residents and students using their palm pilots (I don't know if they are taking notes or playing monopoly on there, either way it's rude). And if I was an attending on rounds, I would ban palm pilots except for checking doses of medications.
I can see, doctor B, that it would be handy for keeping track of all the innumerable phone numbers I have to have on hand. Curse you for reminding me of the one potentially useful palm pilot function! Then again, I have ways around it. Like a sheet of paper with numbers on it, or just dialing the operator.
The palm pilot will not steal my memory. I will triumph over it.
You know what else bothers me? The A in PDA stands for "assistant." (Doesn't it?). You're not my assistant, you're a piece of machinery that doesn't work half the time. If you want to be my assistant then why don't you do rectal exams or other objectionable tasks.
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I bought a pocket pc with my book money last month. Now, I don't know what I did without it. I put in scheduled meetings, phone lists for the whole hospital, beeper lists, resident schedules and call schedules, our resident On-Call Handbook, passwords and logins, credit card numbers, etc..etc...I am also partial to the Worms game.
As I have become more senior (and chief resident) in the program I have many more meetings to attend and tasks to complete. It has been a nice tool to keep me on track.
As I have become more senior (and chief resident) in the program I have many more meetings to attend and tasks to complete. It has been a nice tool to keep me on track.
I use my palm constantly--at least every 15 minutes or so. I use the scheduler, the contacts management, and a scribble program to jot notes. also invaluable is a program that keeps track of all my passwords. i use a free program called Strip which keep your passwords in an encrypted database. i probably have 10+ password for accessing various hospital databases, and they all need to be changed every month.
I have the 5 minute clinical consult, a steadman's medical dictionary, and a copy of the AJCC staging manual that I use very frequently. it's aways fun to beat people to the punch when they reach for their paper copy of the staging manual. See www.skyscape.com to buy. Also, the eponyms database is free and helpful, although with steadman's it's a little redundant.
i have a tungsten c, which is probably overkill, but i wanted the capability to network with my wifi router. if i could do it over, i'd probably get one of the more inexpensive palm zire seires.
one of the things i've found is that i have to have my palm with me 100% of the time, or it becomes useless. if i don't have it, i fall out of the habit of using it, and start scribbling on little pieces of paper and what not. so, i keep it on my belt all of the time at work.
-mrp
I have the 5 minute clinical consult, a steadman's medical dictionary, and a copy of the AJCC staging manual that I use very frequently. it's aways fun to beat people to the punch when they reach for their paper copy of the staging manual. See www.skyscape.com to buy. Also, the eponyms database is free and helpful, although with steadman's it's a little redundant.
i have a tungsten c, which is probably overkill, but i wanted the capability to network with my wifi router. if i could do it over, i'd probably get one of the more inexpensive palm zire seires.
one of the things i've found is that i have to have my palm with me 100% of the time, or it becomes useless. if i don't have it, i fall out of the habit of using it, and start scribbling on little pieces of paper and what not. so, i keep it on my belt all of the time at work.
-mrp
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I love my palm pilot, but I can't remember the last time I used it for something medical. For those of you who already have a palm, and have plenty of memory left, I would highly, highly suggest a program called Vindigo. If you are moving to (or near) a major city, and are having trouble finding your way around, this program is the BOMB! It's like a phone book plus mapquest all in one, as well as a whole lot more. It has addresses and telephone numbers of most major businesses in the area. It will give you directions from wherever you are coming from. There are restaurant reviews, ATM locations, even bathroom locations. You can get movie times, as well as directions to the nearest theatre. There is information on local museums, as well as exhibitions and events in the area.
They used to give you a month free trial, and I think they still do. I pay something like 25 dollars a year for it now. It's worth every penny, IMHO.
They used to give you a month free trial, and I think they still do. I pay something like 25 dollars a year for it now. It's worth every penny, IMHO.
