In the preclinical years, tablets, over a laptop, have the clear advantage of versatility when studying. I liked using a tablet while doing flashcards at the gym on the treadmill.
Where a tablet is a must for med school is during third and fourth year. Why? Depending on your hospital’s EMR, you can access the EMR from your tablet during rounds. This means you’re saving invaluable time writing down labs for your patients before pre-rounding.
Canto app on Apple iPad allows you to remote access to epic
Below, we compare and contrast the best tablets for med school, focusing on the best tablet for epic utilization.
Apple’s iPad
The Epic Canto application gives the iPad the clear advantage for many and makes it one of the best tablets for med school. Canto is a life saver for checking labs, consult notes on rounds. Citrix and vpn will also allow you to access many other EMRs on the iPad such as Cerner. If you are an iPhone user, the ability to effortless sync iCal and iMessage is another huge plus (looks less obvious than checking your phone during rounds..). It is more versatile than a laptop, and the bluetooth keyboards for iPads are very affordable.
Most cost-effective |
Apple iPad
|
|---|---|
Most lightweight |
Ipad Air
64GB TO 256GB
|
The most features |
Ipad Pro
64GB to 1TB
|
Image credit: Apple
Microsoft Surface
A clear distinction between iPad and Microsoft surface Pro is that rather than a mobile operating system, surface pros run full Windows 10. This essentially means that you will be running Epic on Citrix remote application similarly to a laptop. Another advantage of the surface pro is multiple ports (compared to only one USB port on the iPad Pro).
| Most cost effective |
Surface Go
|
|---|---|
| Most features |
Surface Pro 6
8GB or 16GB RAM
|
Image credit: Microsoft
⇉ Other helpful resources
• Step 2 CK Study Guide
• Step 2 CS Study Guide
• Shelf Resources (by subject)
• Anki Settings Help for Shelf or Step Prep
• How to make Anki Cards Efficiently
Step 2 Study Guide 