PDAs in Medical Education

Technology offers medical education enormous opportunity. Specifically, the PDA has become an extremely valuable tool for the medical student attempting to master an immense body of knowledge in the setting of a hectic clinic or ward. Yet many students know little about software or hardware for their PDAs or don't know where to start when beginning a search to purchase a PDA. As the PDAs in Medical Education coordinator, I hope to promote more effective use of the PDA by the medical student through the following efforts:

• Updating the PDA primer on appropriate hardware, software and accessories for students who need a quick education on the essentials
• Conducting a survey of chapter officers to see which schools are using PDAs in their basic sciences or clinical years and subsequent survey targeted at the entire membership assessing their PDA needs
• Promotion of the AMSA pdaMD package as a potential fundraiser for local chapters

AMSA/PDAMD Online
Our AMSA members only store is your comprehensive source of medically-oriented hardware, software, accessories and the latest PDA consumer information. And for a limited time, AMSA is pleased to introduce the AMSA PDA Package, a handheld solution created by medical students for medical students. To put together a PDA package coop for your AMSA chapter as a fundraiser, read more and sign up as a PDA Coop chapter coordinator.

PDA RESOURCES

Handhelds in Medicine Overview
Learn the ins and outs of using a personal digital assistant in medical school.

Guide to Choosing a PDA
You have a lot of choices to make when purchasing a PDA. Get a head start by reading our primer.

Technology in Medicine talk with Andy Kessler
A discussion with author Andy Kessler about the issues of technology in medicine and and it's usage in medical education.