BACKGROUND: Over the past decade, handheld computers (or personal digital assistants [PDAs]) have become a popular tool among medical trainees and physicians. Few comprehensive reviews of PDA use in medicine have been published. OBJECTIVE: We systematically reviewed the literature to (1) describe medical trainees' use of PDAs for education or patient care, (2) catalog popular software applications, and (3) evaluate the impact of PDA use on patient care. DATA SOURCES: MEDLINE (1993 to 2004), medical education‐related conference proceedings, and hand search of article bibliographies. REVIEW METHODS: We identified articles and abstracts that described the use of PDAs in medical education by trainees or educators. Reports presenting a qualitative or quantitative evaluation were included. RESULTS: Sixty‐seven studies met inclusion criteria. Approximately 60% to 70% of medical students and residents use PDAs for educational purposes or patient care. Satisfaction was generally high and correlated with the level of handheld computer experience. Most of the studies included described PDA use for patient tracking and documentation. By contrast, trainees rated medical textbooks, medication references, and medical calculators as the most useful applications. Only 1 randomized trial with educational outcomes was found, demonstrating improved learning and application of evidence‐based medicine with use of PDA‐based decision support software. No articles reported the impact of PDA use on patient outcomes. CONCLUSION: Most medical trainees find handhelds useful in their medical education and patient care. Further studies are needed to evaluate how PDAs impact learning and clinical outcomes.

Faculty development programs that focus on humanism and reflective learning can facilitate the growth of young faculty members by influencing their values and attitudes at crucial phases of their careers.

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Personal digital assistants are significantly cheaper than laptops, while laptop computers do not require synchronization because data can be uploaded directly. There is also a voice recorder in PDA that can be used to record notes for subsequent typing. 2 A PDA can be useful tool to monitor students' experiences of cardiac auscultation and to track direct observation of such skills by faculty or residents. 3 Steinemann and Omori 4 used personal digital assistants to monitor surgery student work and sleep hours and concluded that majority of students overestimated work hours by a mean of 19.5 hours for 1 week.There was no effect of a PDA-assisted evidence-based medicine (EBM) course on knowledge test scores, although using the PDA during the test results in higher scores. It is unclear if using PDA Clinical Prediction Rules can improve residents' estimate of disease probability. 5 Use of handheld computers differed significantly among the medical specialties. Family physicians were more likely to search for information related to patient problem (diagnosis/ management) while other specialists were more likely to search for the latest research on specific topic (w 2 5 10.26, df 5 3, P 5 .01).