How I Use My Mobile Device
by Joseph Crozier, MD/PhD
As a psychiatry resident at an academic medical center I am in contact with many patients each day with a wide range of psychiatric and other medical diagnoses. I use my mobile device – a Palm Centro – as a way to carry medical references with me wherever I go in the hospital or clinic with the ultimate goal of having key information available to aid medical decision-making.
The main applications that I use are the Epocrates Essentials suite and several digital books that I read using Mobipocket. These books include the DSM-IV Handbook of Differential Diagnoses, the Quick Reference to the APA Practice Guidelines, and the Quick Reference to the DSM-IV Text Revision. The main utility for me of these mobile applications is in having clinically useful information available immediately when needed. For instance, when I am admitting a new patient to the hospital I can use Epocrates to check the patient’s medication list for harmful interactions and for a guide in dosing medications that I may add to the patient’s regimen.
In the past I have also used the full Epocrates Professional suite including Epocrates Lab for advice in interpreting labs and Epocrates Dx as a quick refresher on medical conditions that I don’t encounter frequently. In addition to Epocrates, I use more psychiatric specific applications through digital textbooks that I purchased from PsychiatryOnline. These textbooks are useful for constructing differential diagnoses, planning initial work-up of patients, and provide advice in constructing evidence-based treatment plans.
I have found that having information on medication, labs, and diagnosis readily available saves me time in that when I have factual questions I do not have to find an open workstation and log on to look up information. I just pull out my mobile device and most of the times can find what I need. I have also found some of the attending physicians that I work with have grown to appreciate that fact that I have this information readily available and will also rely on what I can quickly find on my various references to help with decision-making.
| Specialty: | Psychiatry (Resident) |
| Location: | Duke University Medical Center |
| Device: | Palm Centro (Verizon) |
| Processor: | Intel PXA270 technology, Bulverde processor, 312 MHz |
| Operating System: | Palm OS 5.4.9 |
| Internal Memory: | 64MB available user storage |
| External Memory: | 4GB MicroSD |
| Applications: | Epocrates Essentials |
| MobiPocket Reader | |
| E-Books: | DSM-IV-TR Handbook of Differential Diagnoses |
| Quick Reference to the APA Practice Guidelines | |
| Quick Reference to the DSM-IV Text Revision |
Favorite Non-Clinical Apps/Uses:
What I use my device most for is texting my girlfriend who lives a thousand miles away. I also use the Palm calendar for my work and non-work appointments and as an alarm clock.
(Joe was kind enough to kick-off what I hope is a long and successful series of first-hand accounts from clinical-users in the trenches. Please tell us your story.)
