PDAs in medical settings: the importance of organization in PDA text design

This article reports on the utility of personal digital assistants (PDAs) for processing information needed in coordinated, team-based medical work. The author first presents results from a survey of medical professionals, which reveal that medical professionals read PDA-based texts nonlinearly, in short bursts, and without need of a narrative-based organization. The respondents also reported using PDAs to support a range of team-based activities. The author then presents results of a case study of veterinary students using PDAs on clinical rotations. He discusses how the PDA affords uses of text-based information that are suited to medical work that is carried out with the cooperative assistance of people and technologies. After discussing how veterinary students used PDAs to organize information into ad hoc texts, he concludes with challenges and information design guidelines for professional writers in the medical field.