I've got several PDA projects going right now, with varying degrees of focus. The one I'm spending the most time on right now is the predoc project. We got a grant to compare a problem-based learning curriculum to the traditional curriculum for third year medical students on their required 3rd year Family Medicine rotation.

- HanDBase - a small database program that the student will use to record his/her experiences during the preceptorship

- InfoRetriever / 5Minute Clinical Consultant for reference to (mostly) evidence-based medical information

We also purchased a notebook computer to use for synchronizing the PDAs and for the faculty to use to review the students' experience as recorded in the PDA. At the end of the rotation, the student will meet with a faculty mentor. The mentor will sync that student's PDA to the notebook, pull up HanDBase desktop, and review the encounters the student had while with the preceptor. At this time, the faculty will work with the student to identify what the student learned, remaining questions, areas that need more study, etc.

Each one of these gadgets totals close to $700 when you add up everything that goes into each one. This raises the unpleasant task of taking steps to insure that each one makes it back into the fold and in one piece. We may require the student to sign a contract before the device is checked out, but we will be meeting with Susan Seamans this afternoon to discuss this angle. I'll keep everyone posted on progress.