Bedtime Reading
The Top PDA Resources for Family Physicians
AAFP
By: Alvin B. Lin, MD, FAAFP
1. Epocrates I consider Epocrates in all its variations the must-have application for family physicians. I especially recommend Epocrates Essentials, which includes a version of Griffith's 5-Minute Clinical Consult (Epocrates Dx), a laboratory reference (Epocrates Lab), an infectious disease reference (Epocrates ID) and an alternative/complementary medicine database in addition to its standard medication data (Epocrates RxPro). Even if you choose not to pay for the full experience, the free version of Epocrates Rx allows you to check for drug-to-drug interactions among up to 30 medications and for compatibility issues between intravenous medications. Furthermore, several complementary calculators and references are available for those of us who are less savvy users, along with free CME. Now, I cannot go so far as to recommend obtaining your 150 hours of CME every three years by staring at your PDA's screen, but it's handy while you're at the airport waiting for a flight.