Katie Marsal"All entering PharmD students must have a iPod touch (or iPhone) and a computer meeting minimum UF and College of Pharmacy (COP) requirements," the university said on its College of Pharmacy website.
The school, which is ranked as one of the top 10 in the nation by US News and World Report, first began offering its Doctor of Pharmacy online degree program for licensed pharmacist back in 1994. Since then, the curriculum has "grown to be the largest and most sought after pharmacy program for employed pharmacists to earn the Doctor of Pharmacy degree," the school says.
The health care profession in general has been amongst the quickest to latch on to Apple's iPhone and App Store ecosystem ever since the company announced its iPhone Developer program last March.
Medical reference applications, blood glucose monitor accessories, and software that allows obstetricians to use their iPhones to remotely access virtual real-time and historical waveform data for their patients, are just some examples of the growing trend.
The University of Florida's announcement late last week arrives on the heels of a similar requirement set forth in May by the University of Missouri. It too said that beginning this fall, all of its journalism students will be required to own an iPhone or iPod touch.
The university later explained that it won't enforce the requirement, but listed it as such so that students could include the cost of their Apple handhelds in their financial needs estimates.
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26 Comments
I've heard they're doing this at the State University of Florida too, and even at such prestigious schools as the Technology Institute of Massachusetts.
Really what does an iPhone or Touch do that is absolutely required to obtain a degree? I fully understand how useful my iPhone is for my personal life but that is a choice I made. So I'm just wondering what apps make the Touch devices required.
Dave
Really what does an iPhone or Touch do that is absolutely required to obtain a degree? I fully understand how useful my iPhone is for my personal life but that is a choice I made. So I'm just wondering what apps make the Touch devices required.
Dave
Wasn't there an app designed early in the life of the iPhone specifically for identifying medicine as well as listing the drugs that should not be taken in combination? A pharmacy program could leverage that for field use. Also, I'm sure the school wants to be viewed as innovative/"hip".
Wow. Seems a bit over the top, but Apple has really caused a revolution with its handhelds, no doubt about it.
In high school, I had to buy a scientific calculator for trig class. No big deal. For college, I bought a more expensive calculator ($125 in 1987 or about $235 in today's money - about the same as an iPod Touch!
It is a very specific requirement, but not really unreasonable. It is college after all.
However, this poo-poos anyone's complaints: