Question: Do I need to buy a new computer when I enter medical school?
Answer: No, not really. Anything you absolutely need to do for school from a computer, which isn't much, can be done at school. Although having a computer is nice, don't rush out to buy that nice new laptop just because you are entering medical school. At least wait until you get here and learn what you really need. If you move into your apartment in August, chances are that you won't be able to get online at home that soon, anyway. It usually takes 3-4 weeks to schedule a cable hookup with tons of undergrads coming in at the same time as you!
Question: Do I need to buy a PDA when I enter medical school?
Answer: No, at least not for your first two years. Some technophiles prefer to use their PDAs to do scheduling, or to look up drugs or diseases using cool PDA programs, but there is nothing special that you need a PDA for in particular. Currently, most students have a PDA/smartphone during clinical years.
Overview
Three different organizations provide computing services to students at Pitt Med:
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The Medical School
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The University
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The Library System
This is important to know because some of the services provided by each overlap, and understanding who is providing what service can help you to sort out how it all fits together. This will also help you know where to turn when a computer or online service starts misbehaving.
If you read nothing else in this document, check out the University Services section on the next page to find out how you are entitled to free internet access, free [and valuable] software, remote access and free web space.
1. The Medical School Med Student Web Interface
The school of medicine uses a centralized system called "The Zone" for student email, scheduling, course material, online collaboration and other essential documents.
http://zone.medschool.pitt.edu/
Email
The medical school provides all of its students an email account, of the form -
lastname.firstname@medstudent.pitt.edu
This is will be your main email address as a student, where all official correspondence from the med school will be sent. Note that you are required to check this account, because official announcements sent here are just that: official. And don't be late for class! You can check your email through the Med Student Web Interface (above), or through an email client on your computer. For help, refer to: http://zone.medschool.pitt.edu/[Help]/Student%20Email%20FAQ/Pages/default.aspx
Public Computers
The medical school provides computers for student use in all of the PBL rooms, as well as a few in the student lounge. They are ostensibly used for medical education, although they are also extremely useful for wasting time.
Help with Med School Computer Stuff
All questions and concerns with computing resources provided by the med school should be directed to the Office of Medical Education, M-211 or omed@pitt.edu, or the technology committee, technology@medstudent.pitt.edu.
2. University Services
At the same time that you are a medical student, you are also a university student.
So, just like grad students and all the dental students with tiny legs at the gym, medical students are also University students. As such, you are entitled to all the benefits that other students have with regards to computing. Ultimately, the resources here that are provided by the university are documented at technology.pitt.edu, which is much more extensive than this guide, although not exactly concise.
"The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do."
-Thomas Jefferson
Free Software
You are entitled to a FREE copy of Microsoft Office, operating systems, Visual Studio, Norton Antivirus and more! If you're thinking of buying a computer DON'T buy the software. You get it here for free. See http://www.technology.pitt.edu/software.html for details.
Free Internet Access
Ok, well it's just dialup. But it's FREE. And anything for FREE is good, right? More info is available at http://technology.pitt.edu/network-web/off-campus/dial-up.html. Honestly, I can't imagine anyone using this anymore since most people don't have a landline phone or time to wait for pages to load...but, slowskies, have at it.
Remote Access to Restricted university materials
http://technology.pitt.edu/network-web/off-campus/secure-remote-access.html
By connecting and establishing a VPN, you can access sites like UpToDate.com as if you were on campus.
Free Gym Access
OK, this has very little to do with computers, but it's cool, isn't it?
Email
In addition to your medstudent email account, you also have an account through the University (yourinitials+number code@pitt.edu). You should receive information from the University regarding this account before your arrival. Note that this email has a limited storage capacity, while your medstudent email account does not have a fixed maximum
capacity. Also note that you can check this email at the different Internet "kiosks" around campus. Pitt.edu address email is accessed through the my.pitt.edu web portal, which is unfortunately probably more cumbersome than useful for most people. You can also access Pitt account mail via IMAP and POP3 on your home computer (see technology.pitt.edu), or forward your email to your Pitt address to somewhere else, for instance your medstudent address (see my.pitt.edu for this one).
Wireless Access
Wireless access is available to students throughout the medical school. This is a tremendously convenient thing that will be great for the students of Pitt Med. For details on how to get connected, see http://technology.pitt.edu/network-web/wireless.html, or the Wireless documentation in the Help section of The Zone Website.
Shell Access
With your email account, you have access to a UNIX shell account. If you don't know what this is, don't worry about it. But if you do, you can telnet (!), ftp, or ssh to unixs.cis.pitt.edu, and login with your pitt username and password. This is a convenient place to check email, and to dork out with commands such as `grep', `emacs', and my favorite, `fsck'.
Web Space
It seems like there is very little documentation about this on the technology website. If you put HTML documents in the public/html directory from your home directory, they will show up at www.pitt.edu/~YYYYY/ where YYYYY is your Pitt username. You can use ftp
to transfer the documents or edit them directly via logging into your shell account. If you need help with this, contact the tech committee or the CIS (computer and information services) helpdesk (see below).
Undergraduate Clusters
Here you'll find many PCs, Macintoshes and Sun computers all in a row that will make you nostalgic for your undergraduate days, even if they were only a few months ago. Elbow to elbow with your undergraduate colleagues, the main advantages of there clusters are you can print for free and some are open 24 hours a day. The closest one to the med
school is on the 10th floor of the engineering building (right down Bayard St.). The complete list includes clusters at Benedum Hall, Sutherland Hall, Forbes Quadrangle, David Lawrence Hall, Hillman Library and the Cathedral of Learning.
Help With University Computer Stuff
University of Pittsburgh Computing and Information Services (CIS)
412-624-HELP (4357)
This service is available dare we say it? 24-7 (that is, always).
http://www.technology.pitt.edu/
helpdesk@pitt.edu
3. Library Computing
Computer and Media Center (CMC)
The second floor of Falk Library has 60 or so computers with good Internet connections. Scanners (flatbed and slide) and handheld sync ports are available. There is even a stray Macintosh or two in there for Apple fans. These computers require user IDs and passwords (library-specific) which will be given during orientation week. Here you can find good instructions on many technical issues at Pitt, including how to set up your computer for dial-up internet service.
Printing
Please check the online survival guide for current information about printing in the library. The CMC is the only place that you can print in Scaife Hall, for $.08 per page. Each student is given access to a subsidized printing system with $80 of credit on it. If you go over the limit, apparently they keep track and hunt you down. Undergraduate computer labs also have printing and print jobs can actually be sent from anywhere. http://technology.pitt.edu/network-web/computing-labs/self-service-printing.html
Help With Library Computing
One or two people usually sit behind a desk in the front of the CMC and can help you with any computer-related question. You can also give them a call at 412-648-9109.
Modified by Tech Committee on 6/10/2009
technology@medstudent.pitt.edu