PDA Requirement

Your PDA will be used in your clinical years as a valuable reference tool, a clinical calculator, and to report and retain clinical information. The most basic model PDA can fulfill this requirement. Funds will be put into your second year, second semester financial aid for this purchase. When you purchase your PDA, do not think of it as a long term investment. Many residences supply their residents with a standard PDA that works with their hospital systems.

PDA Requirements

The School does not require a specific brand or model, but all student PDAs must have the following specifications:

• Palm OS version 5.0 or greater, iPhone, or Windows Mobile
• If you have any patient information on your PDA, it must follow HIPAA guidelines.

Selecting a PDA Device

OIS does not endorse any specific device, because there are several factors to consider when selecting a device. First and foremost is the service provider of the device. Although cell coverage is becoming less of an issue in many areas, it still plays a role in the selection of a device. For example Sprint currently guarantees coverage within UNC Hospital; you may not receive coverage in some Med School buildings, at your house, or at the location that you are doing a rotation.
Once you have determined the provider that you would like to use, then you should review the device that best meets your needs. Currently our requirement includes any device with Palm OS 5.0 or greater, or a Windows Mobile device because these are well established operating systems with a wide variety of application solutions for the residents. The iPhone is still in its infancy, and we cannot guarantee that it will provide the residents with all of the functionality needed.

PDA Support

OIS does not have the resources to provide support for installation, operation, or support of hardware and software. Students have become sophisticated users and should have no trouble learning to use their PDAs.

Warnings

• PDAs do not currently have access to Patient Information Database in the hospital
• iPhones do not currently have all the applications you will want to use in the clinical setting. They now have a Epocrates Rx solution for the iPhone. However it does not offer a Epocrates Essentials version for the iPhone. Therefore you may be limited in its use. For more information visit the Epocrates website.

• Battery life is very short on some models. However, the battery life can be extended by decreasing the frequency of the automatic syncs on the device. On WiFi capable devices you can also increase battery life by turning off WiFi when not in use.

Learn more about PDAs

• Med Student to Med Student Guide to Buying a PDA (AMSA)