Introducing PDAs in Preclinical Medical Education

Abstract

The use of personal digital assistants (PDAs) in the pre-clinical curriculum was explored at Georgetown University School of Medicine. Through a Palm, Inc. Mobile Medicine grant, fifteen second-year medical students were provided with their own PDA. Student feedback was gathered through a series of resource evaluations, a general questionnaire, and a focus group. Findings helped identify barriers to use and contributed to an increase in PDA resources, an expansion of PDA support, and a proposal for a PDA requirement.