Professors and attending physicians haven't yet integrated the computers into teaching, says Arizona's Mr. Galper. They're much more in tune with the books, which really aren't as valuable as the data bases on the palmtop, which are updated every few months. But the books are what they know how to use. He also complains that electronic versions of books cost twice as much as print versions. A new generation of palmtop computers, promising increased speed, and in some cases color screens, is to hit the market this year.
Professors say they are thinking about how to use the devices.
Joseph Zibrak, an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard and assistant chief of pulmonary and critical-care medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, says it took him about three months of using his palmtop before he decided he liked it. Now the computer is an essential part of my life. I can't go to sleep without knowing where it is. Dr. Zibrak says he expects such devices to become standard equipment for doctors, and for medical students, in the very near future. The palmtop computers lent out to students by Harvard were donated by the manufacturer, and it's unclear whether more such loans will be forthcoming.