About this site
Welcome to this guide to handheldsfordoctors, a site that teaches you how to use handhelds as a doctor.
Huh? Handhelds?
Handhelds are computers small enough to hold in your hand. So they're small enough to carry on your ward round, small enough to carry into theatre, and small enough to use in the audit meeting. Yet they're powerful. That's powerful enough to store your patients' details, powerful enough to write your operation notes on, and powerful enough to play games on. Audit meetings never looked so interesting.
Want to read a guide to see what you can do?No thanks, I'm a very busy doctor.
Which is exactly why you need to read the guide!
Very smooth. Who are you anyway?
This site is written and designed by myself, Dr Mohammad Al-Ubaydli. I'm a doctor and programmer from Cambridge University. Currently, I'm working as a visiting research fellow at the National Center for Biotechnology Information in Washington, DC. I use my handheld in my professional and personal life, so doctors, nurses, patients and friends are always asking me about the machine. I also give lectures and courses, and have written a book on the use of handhelds in medicine. I designed this site as a guide, to help you buy and use a handheld.
So you're trying to sell me something!
Absolutey - I think every doctor in the National Health Service (NHS) should have a handheld computer. Everyone would benefit, including the NHS. But the NHS is not an organisation known for rushing into innovation. It would be much faster for doctors to buy the machines themselves. Thus I created this site.
I've picked out the best machines, by Palm and Microsoft, and the best retailer, Amazon.co.uk. In return, every time you buy something from Amazon through this site, I get a small commission. It doesn't affect the price you pay, and it contributes to the costs of running this site.
I've also picked out the best software for these machines, and collected lots of good advice on how to best put a handheld to use within your hospital or GP surgery.
Where is all this advice?
There's an elevent-part guide that explains everything you might need to know about using handhelds in medicine.
The guide starts with an overview. Read that and you'll have a good grasp of the technology and what it can offer you. If you'd then like to buy a machine, or are interested in a particular aspect of using it, you can use the rest of the guide for more details.
