This is the last week for medical students to get Epocrates for free!

You have until August 14, 2011 to download your FREE subscription of Epocrates® Essentials, our premium drug, disease and diagnostic mobile reference suite. Also, share your opinion in our annual Future Physicians of America survey and enter for a chance to win prizes like an Apple® iPad® 2 or one of five $100 American Express® gift cards.

Plus, we’re giving you a free copy of Clemente’s Anatomy Flash Cards for your iPhone®, iPod touch® or iPad®.

Currently using Epocrates Essentials on your mobile device? This will extend your subscription by a year.

More information here.

iStudiez Pro for medical students (iPad, iPhone & iPod Touch)

If you're a medical student, you may want to think about using iStudiez Pro as you study for your exams. This is a great tool that can help you leverage mobile technology as you're going through medical school. iStudiez can help you organize your schedule, keep up with homework and assignments, and stay on top of your grades.

If you're on a tight budget, then you can get iStudiez Lite for free.

You can learn about iStudiez here.

Budget smartphone options for medical students

Many medical students are on tight budgets. Let's face it. You've accumulated loans, you're not working, and you're probably accumulating more loans as you're going through medical school. Who has the luxury to buy the latest and greatest smartphone?

If you're a medical student and you're thinking about purchasing a smartphone, consider this: you'll probably end up getting a new smartphone when you start residency. Therefore, you should not be too eager to buy the latest and greatest smartphone. You mainly need a solid device that will meet your needs for a few years. Then, when you actually start making some money as a resident (it won't be much, but it's more than now), then you can buy a newer, nicer smartphone.

Smartphone prices have been coming down dramatically. If you're on AT&T, you can get an iPhone 3GS for just $99. Want an Android smartphone? The Motorola BackFlip is only $49.99 on AT&T. AT&T also offers several different BlackBerry smartphones that are free for new customers.

Verizon used to have some great budget smartphones, but they've recently changed their inventory to make room for the newer smartphones like the Motorola Droid X and the upcoming Droid 2. However, the LG Ally running Google Android is only $49.99 and the Motorola Devour running Google Android is just $79.99. Those are some practical options for medical students who wish to have an Android smartphone but who don't want to pay more than $100. The Palm Pre Plus is only $49.99 and the BlackBerry Curve is going for $29.99.

Looking for better deals? If you search on eBay, you'll probably find some great bargains as people try to sell their smartphones so that they can upgrade to better devices.

DROID vs. iPhone discussion at the Student Doctor Network

One of the more active forum discussions at the Student Doctor Network (SDN) deals with the topic of "Droid vs. iPhone." Medical students want to know: which is better?

If your medical school mandates that you should have either an iPhone or an iPod touch, then I think the answer is obvious. However, if your medical school allows you to have some flexibility in your smartphone selection, then which would you choose?

Given recent complains about the AT&T network, I'm not sure that I'd want to switch to AT&T. Given the relatively low volume of medical apps for Android, I'm not sure I'd want to use an Android smartphone as a medical student.

So which is better for a medical student? My vote would be for the Apple iPhone right now simply because there are so many more educational medical apps that are either free or relatively affordable. Plus, given that many medical schools have selected the iPhone for their medical students, you may have an opportunity to leverage some of the educational resources designed for these students.

Android vs. iPhone: who will dominate the health care industry?

Right now, the Apple iPhone has a clear lead over any smartphone operating system in most hospitals and medical schools in the United States. There are a few medical schools and universities that are still lagging behind and they're relying on Windows Mobile and Palm OS, but the majority of these academic institutions recognize the value of the Apple iPhone and iPod touch. Medical students who are unable to afford a smartphone data plan or who do not wish to switch to the AT&T network, the iPod touch is a great alternative.

In 2010, we're going to see a large number of new Android smartphones appearing on all the major wireless carriers. Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint, and even AT&T will all offer Android smartphones. Android won't dominate the health care industry in 2010, but what about in 2 or 3 years? What will happen as we compare the Apple iPhone against Google's Android OS? We're bound to see more medical apps appearing for Android. We may see some unique ways that Google will leverage their resources and build the Android OS into an extremely robust OS for the health care industry. We've already seen Google incorporate voice-prompted turn-by-turn GPS navigation into the latest version of Android. Google certainly has the resources to leverage health care resources on the Internet to boost mobile functionality for health care professionals. Will the Google Android OS beat the Apple iPhone in a few years?

I've already been reading that attendees at CES are seeing more Android smartphones among attendees. Gadget-lovers tend to be early adopters, so that's understandable. However, medical professionals like the older generation of physicians are not classically considered early technology adopters. Compare that group to a younger generation of medical students and residents and you have a different mix with a large number of early technology adopters.

So what's going to happen by the end of the year? 2010 has only begun. I'm sure Apple has many different strategies to get their iPhone into more medical schools and hospitals. What's Google doing?

PDA/Smartphone requirements in medical school

Each year, the PDA/smartphone requirements within medical schools evolves. Have you noticed that trend? When I was in medical school, "PDA/smartphone" requirements simply did not exist. Today, each school has a list of mandatory or preferred PDAs and smartphones.

Why do medical students still use PDAs? Because they're so poor that they can't afford to pay for a data plan on a smartphone. Actually, most are not that poor, but some struggle to survive on Ramen noodles and cold cereal (I remember those days...)

So, how have these PDA/smartphone requirements evolved? Are medical schools all mandating the Apple iPhone or iPod touch? No. Some still require Windows Mobile. Few are hanging on to the original Palm OS. Let's face it: medical schools are not early adopters. Students may be early adopters, but the hospitals and universities are slow to implement health IT changes.

Let's take a look at a few case examples of different medical school PDA/Smartphone requirements for medical students:

University of Massachusetts Medical School (http://library.umassmed.edu/pda.cfm) 

All Class of 2011 students are required to carry and utilize a mobile device during their clinical years. Students can utilize any device they wish (e.g., iPhone/iTouch, BlackBerry, PDA, Pocket PC) but must be able to run all required resources. The library will support ONLY synchronization of the Palm T|X at its synch station

University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) (http://www.medstudent.ucla.edu/PDA_Resources/PDAreq-2012.cfm)

The Class of 2012 must have a PDA / Handheld computing device for the 3rd and 4th year of medical school loaded with the required software. The 3rd year starts on June 21, 2010 with Clinical Foundations. The devices listed below have been specifically selected as they run the required software. Please note that a phone, data plan, wi-fi or blutooth is NOT required.

University of Virginia (UVA) (http://www.healthsystem.virginia.edu/internet/ome/edtech/pda_recom.cfm)

All third year medical students are required to own one of the recommended mobile devices. The entire Student Source site has been optimized for iPod Touch/iPhone. For more resources see our Mobile Medicine site.

University of North Carolina (UNC) (http://www.med.unc.edu/md/computing/pdas)

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

Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University (ECU) (http://www.ecu.edu/cs-itcs/medstudentcomputing/medicalpdarequirements.cfm)

In an effort to prepare Medical Students for their clinical experience, Brody School of Medicine is requiring 2^nd year students to purchase a PDA or Windows Mobile Smartphone at the second half of their 2^nd year. The handheld or smartphone required is a Windows Mobile device with at least 64 MB of memory. Students will be expected to sync their device wirelessly, at home or with their wireless laptops or tablets. We have chosen the Windows Mobile operating system because it integrates with our current infrastructure. The Windows Mobile device is like an extension of their laptops, therefore training should be minimal.

Robert Wood Johnson Medical School at University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) (http://rwjms.umdnj.edu/news_publications/news_release/student_mobility.html)

This fall all entering medical school students at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School were required to have an iPod Touch or iPhone as well as a laptop computer. The medical school introduced a mobility initiative designed to integrate electronic content including images, audio, video, and other digital assets and make it available through mobile technologies.

Indiana University School of Medicine (http://msa.iusm.iu.edu/Technology/pdaspec20092010.asp)

The 2009-2010 PDA recommendation is the HP iPAQ 110 Classic (same as last year). A number of Palm OS or Windows Mobile PDAs and smartphones will also be supported. The device must have a touch screen interface. Therefore, do not purchase Windows Mobile hardware based on "Smartphone edition" since you will not be able to obtain signatures. The CERTTS system also will not function on BlackBerry devices. Windows devices will need to run Windows Mobile 2003 or later, Palm devices must be Palm OS 4 or higher.

I could go on and list many more medical schools, but I'm running out of space. I think you get the idea. Many medical schools are moving forward with the Apple iPhone or iPod touch, but some still hang on to other platforms like Windows Mobile. My prediction is that the iPhone will remain strong, but Android will be catching up (slowly, since technology changes occur slowly in the world of medicine).