Many companies have developed PDA products aimed at the medical professions' unique needs, such as drug databases, treatment information, and medical news. Services such as AvantGo translate medical journals into PDA-readable formats. WardWatch organizes medical records, providing reminders of information such as the treatment regimens of patients and programs to doctors making ward rounds. Pendragon and Syware provide tools for conducting research with PDAs, allowing the user to enter data into a centralized database using their PDA. Microsoft Visual Studio and Sun Java also provide programming tools for developing survey instruments on the handheld. These development tools allow for integration with SQL databases that are stored on the handheld and can be synchronized with a desktop- or server-based database.
PDAs have been shown to aid diagnosis and drug selection and some studies have concluded that when patients use PDAs to record their symptoms, they communicate more effectively with hospitals during follow-up visits.
The development of Sensor Web technology may lead to wearable bodily sensors to monitor ongoing conditions, like diabetes or epilepsy, which would alert patients and doctors when treatment is required using wireless communication and PDAs.
As mobile technology becomes more common, it is increasingly being used as a learning tool. Some educational institutions have embraced M-Learning, integrating PDAs into their teaching practices.
PDAs and handheld devices are allowed in many classrooms for digital note-taking. Students can spell-check, modify, and amend their class notes on the PDA. Some educators distribute course material through the Internet or infrared file-sharing functions of the PDA. Textbook publishers have begun to release e-books, or electronic textbooks, which can be uploaded directly to a PDA, reducing the number of textbooks students must carry.
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