I am a doctor user of a 7520. I love it EXCEPT the software I want is not set up for RIMM platform. Epocrates for example.
When if ever can i expect this bad situation to change or should i turn in my 7520 and get a palm or similar device?

Get a Palm device.

I loved Epocrates on my pda. I had a few hazmat programs too that were nice. I still like the bb better, just hoping that some of those apps will come out for the bb.

i'm sure as their OS changes to a new platform (this year; on a new handheld), the developer market will open up quite a bit.

What does Epocrates do?

Epocrates is basically a drug index. You can look up medications and see what they are for, interactions, etc. I used to use it a lot as a paramedic when I didn't recognize a med a pt. was on.

Are there any more good free medical software that you know?

I've not found anything .... haven't found anything I'd pay for yet either but it's still pretty new.

I've seen that, and for a dictionary it's pretty good. I'm looking more for programs like Epocrates or another good one is Wiser for hazmat: http://wiser.nlm.nih.gov/

Just my $0.0144 worth...(US equivilent of $0.02CDN)

why not contact the software writers to port Epocrates to the BlackBerry? Obviously there are some skilled programmers for the BlackBerry (Verichat, Idokorro, etc) so it shouldn't be impossible.

Zro

Something else to consider is trying out a few of the web sites that list drug info. There are a few that provide info identical (or close) to what's in the PDR. I think the standalone app for the Palm might be a bit faster and more elegant, but with bookmarks and some experimentation, you could make the online option work if you want to stick to a BB.