Personal digital assistant usage among undergraduate medical students: exploring trends, barriers, and the advent of smartphones

Personal digital assistant (PDA) use is widespread and now considered an essential part of medical practice These devices, also known as handhelds, allow health professionals to find answers to clinical questions while at the patient's bedside, resulting in better patient safety and clinical outcomes [3]. However, it has been found that PDA users, especially medical students, often struggle to use these tools to their full potential Health sciences libraries have responded by providing resources and services such as the evaluation of PDA programs and devices, instruction sessions on effective PDA use, and even the provision of technical support