Laptop Program

The Ohio State College of  Medicine Laptop Policy

All first year medical students are required to have a laptop.
The Ohio State University College of Medicine is committed to preparing our students for the medical, technological, social, and business challenges of the world they will be entering. Two core competencies of the practice of medicine are 1) patient care and 2) practice-based learning and improvement. As such, medical students and physicians must use information technology to support patient care decisions and patient education, and use information technology to manage information, access on-line medical information, and support their own education. As such, Ohio State medical students must possess and be able to use computer and personal digital assistant technology.

E-mail is the primary method for communicating with the College community. In laying the foundation for creating the "24-hour classroom," computer hardware and capability are continually being added and upgraded (including wireless access throughout the student study areas). Academic materials and documentation are provided via the Web.

If You Already Own a Laptop
The Ohio State University Medical Center uses a standard platform of Windows and Windows-compatible software and hardware.  Many programs and shared files are also compatible with Mac an Linux systems though support for these is limited.

Below are the minimum specs for the laptop ownership program. If you have a laptop that meets the minimum requirements you can select exemption.   If compatible software is needed and the laptop can be upgraded to the latest version, it can be distributed to the student. Additional charges or software fees may apply.

 Minimum Requirements:
· Pentium M 1.80ghz
· 1 GB RAM
· 40 GB Hard Drive
· Microsoft Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2
· IEEE 802.11 a/b/g Wireless card
· McAfee Anti-Virus software (available at http://osusls.osu.edu/)
 o This is free and the only anti-virus software supported.
· Microsoft Office 2003

  Please indicate on the “Laptop Order” link that you wish to opt-out of the program. 

Purchase

The Ohio State University College of Medicine provides several laptop packages for $1800. If you decide to purchase one of these laptops, you will be billed $600 per quarter for your first academic school year.

If you plan to purchase a laptop through the College of Medicine Laptop Program, please make your selection from the available options by clicking on the “Laptop Package” link.

Currently, your cost of attendance budget DOES NOT include a budget item for the cost of the laptop. If you purchase a laptop computer through the College, your cost of attendance budget will be automatically increased to allow you to take out additional loan funding to pay for your computer. After you purchase a computer through this laptop program, you will be sent an email informing you that you are now eligible to apply for more loan money for the cost of the computer.

If you choose to purchase your own laptop rather than purchase the laptop offered by the University, you are also eligible for the same loan increase mentioned above. However, you can not receive loan funding above $1800 to assist you in paying for a computer. Also, you must show that you, and not a family member, purchased the computer to be eligible for the additional loan funding. Finally, the purchase of this laptop can not be more than 5 months before the start of school.

For questions about loan funding eligibility to assist in the purchase of a laptop, please e-mail the Office of Student Financial Services at medfinaid@osumc.edu

Delivery of Computers
All first year medical students that chose to participate in the University’s laptop program will receive their laptop computer during orientation.