"Resisting the idea of purchasing a PDA for my hospital work, I submitted to peer pressure and purchased a SONY Clie and loaded it with multiple common programs that Residents use. After finding that carrying 15 different manuals and texts were difficult if not truly annoying, I started to accumulate software in various manuals. My first two PDA texts were the Skyscape Washington Manual of Medical Therapeutics for the PDA, 30th Edition and the 5 Minute Emergency Medicine Consult for the PDA.

My very first call, I was faced with a very difficult case of an elderly man whose hands and finger tips were rapidly losing circulation with the tips becoming necrotic. He was not a diabetic nor was he known to have any coagulation problems. The patient was whisked to a variety of tests from transesophogeal echocardiogram to angiogram as well as had a battery of standard blood tests. The only source of the problem that could be identified was that his platelets were increased modestly. Using the Washington Manual on my PDA - as the library in hospital was closed (it was late in the evening), I was able to generate a differential diagnosis. It led to a diagnosis that generated our treatment plan. It allowed me to treat his symptoms, generate a treatment plan for pain control, and directed me to his eventual diagnosis of a paraneoplastic syndrome. On an aside, I might add the software was easy to use, convenient, and worked well with my color PDA with its given chart materials. Were it not for the access and portability of my Skyscape Software, treatment might have been other wise delayed until I had access to a library. I would like to thank Skyscape for making their products available to us."