Handheld Logging System Saves Interns Valuable Time
In 2005, medical residents affiliated with Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine (MSUCOM) rolled out a comprehensive Palm OS-based intern logging system. The program includes over 300 interns from 16 of the 25 member teaching hospitals in the Statewide Campus System (SCS). The logging forms are facilitated by PenDragon Forms software on Palm Tungsten handhelds.
The new system does away with the traditional paper versions, freeing up medical education staff that otherwise might spend much of their time compiling reams of intern data. For the interns, the forms have been programmed and streamlined to maximize efficiency, too. Forms are organized for quick retrieval and satisfy AOA-mandated intern logs for hospital and ambulatory procedures, timesheets, and service evaluations.
Using their home computers, interns synchronize their educational data, via the Internet, to the master database located at SCS/MSUCOM. At their leisure, they can log into the handheld logging website to review and edit their data and to print their logs.
Every handheld is packed with lots of useful tools for medical interns including a calendar, MedCalc (for drug calculations), Epocrates, Word Complete, and lots of other free software titles to download from the internet including free medical resources.
The SCS is moving forward with a national handheld initiative for osteopathic OB/GYN residents in all AOA approved programs. Osteopathic training programs in other states across the nation have expressed an interest in adopting MSUCOM's highly successful system.
![[RSS 0.92 feed]](http://medicalpda.net/img/xml.gif)
