Epocrates, Inc. announces an alliance today with New York University College of Dentistry (NYUCD) to provide students with the latest in mobile medical information. NYUCD, the largest and third oldest dental school in the
United States , is the first dental school to incorporate Epocrates and the use of personal digital assistants (PDAs) into its curriculum. The technology will enhance dental education and help future dentists and hygienists fulfill their commitment to provide the best in oral health care.
“PDAs provide critical educational and clinical value for our students and patients by providing medical reference information at chairside,” said Elise Eisenberg,
DDS, MS , director of dental informatics for NYUCD. “Epocrates provides this information in an easy-to-use interface with frequent content updates and is already being used as a key application by many of our faculty.”
NYUCD will implement a four-year PDA curriculum that will integrate the use of handheld technology into didactic and clinical courses beginning with the first course in dental school. This early integration of PDAs, which focuses on enhancing dental education and patient care, will carry over into clinical practice and directly impact and enhance the quality of treatment students are learning to provide.
“NYUCD is setting a precedent as the first dental education institution to embrace the mobile learning environment and to require PDAs for new students,” said Kirk Loevner, Epocrates chairman and CEO. “Whether in the classroom or exam room, students and faculty can now quickly access reliable and timely information on medications, drug interactions and related topics.”
The curriculum will stress the importance to students of understanding the medications their patients are taking. Having Epocrates products on their PDAs is an easy way for them to access this information quickly, look up drugs by name or class and identify potential drug-drug interactions or adverse side effects, according to Miriam Robbins,
DDS, MS , clinical associate professor and associate chair of oral and maxillofacial pathology, radiology and medicine at NYUCD.
In the three-year agreement, more than 1,000 dental and dental hygiene students will receive Epocrates Rx Pro® drug and formulary reference and Epocrates Dx™ disease, diagnosis and treatment guide. Students will use these resources for the duration of their program to reference more than 3,000 drug monographs, check up to 30 drugs simultaneously for interactions, and discern more than 1,200 diseases and conditions. In addition, NYUCD faculty will use Epocrates® Essentials all-in-one mobile guide as well as have access to Epocrates Rx Online® web-based drug reference on their desktops.