About This Site

Palm OS^® organizers have taken the handheld computing world by storm, and are finding their way into lab coat pockets at hospitals and medical offices across the country. These devices offer many benefits in terms of organization and efficiency, reducing errors, and improving patient care.

I bought my first Palm OS^® device, a Palm Pilot Professional, in 1997. Like most fourth-year medical students, my lab coat pockets were bulging with quick-reference books, index cards, and cheat sheets - a veritable mini-medical library - to help me survive my days and nights on the wards.

My Palm Pilot Pro's single megabyte of RAM filled up quickly as I attempted to create a digital version of all the stuff I carried in my pockets. During my residency in family medicine, I eventually reached the point where I carried nothing but my Palm handheld (by then a TRG Pro with 8 MB of RAM and a 32 MB CF card), a stethoscope, and a small stack of index cards for tracking hospital patients. My lab coat was ten pounds lighter, and information was now literally at my fingertips!

Whether you're a new or experienced user, I hope you find something of value here. If I've overlooked your favorite program or file, please let me know! As a clinician, I continue to use my Palm OS^® handheld (currently a Treo 650 with a 128 MB SD card) every single day, and can't imagine practicing medicine without it. I hope you feel the same way!

In case you're wondering, the term "ectopic brain" refers to those densely-packed pocket reference books that weigh down the lab coats of virtually every medical student and house officer. As computers continue to play an increasingly larger role in the way physicians access information, devices like the Palm OS^® handheld may soon render our trusty spiral-bound "ectopic brains" obsolete.

© 1997-2006, Kent E. Willyard, M.D.
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