Hand-held computer operating system program for collection of resident experience data1

Abstract

The system of collecting resident encounter data using hand-held computers with the Palm Operating System is easy to use, relatively inexpensive, accurate, and secure. The user-friendly system provides prompt, complete, and accurate data, enhancing the education of residents while facilitating the job of the program director.

Assessing Medical Students’, Residents’, and the Public’s Perceptions of the Uses of Personal Digital Assistants

“…At the graduate level, 13 Obstetrics and Gynecology residents at the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences and the Walter Reed Army Medical Center piloted the use of a handheld device to track patient encounters 6. These investigators reported that using a PDA to collect resident patient encounter data had a positive impact on the education of the residents and that the handheld computers were “increasingly useful in the daily practice of clinical and academic medicine.” Each of these studies suggests that handheld technologies enhanced medical education; however, they focused on small groups of handheld device users and on one particular kind of application, the patient encounter log (p. 793).…”