what's the best pda for me?

I chose a Palm Tungsten E2 for myself. It's cheaper, more reliable, smaller, and there is more free medical software available than a comparable PocketPC. Also, the fact that it is weaker than a lot of the PocketPC's can also be a blessing in disguise. I don't use it for any heavy-lifting (pictures, movies, etc.), so I don't need much horsepower. The result is that the battery can go for days without needing a re-charge (and even if I forget to charge it, the E2 uses flash memory, so it won't lose its contents).

With regards to the organizer functions, the Palm software integrates almost perfectly with Outlook. I actually keep all of my appointments and contact information on Outlook. When I hotsync, all of the information is transferred to my Palm without a hitch.

All that being said, some of the newer Palms have been experiencing reliability issues, and a lot of the high-end Palms are not really any cheaper than the competing PocketPCs. Most of the best PDA software out there is available for both platforms. If someone else is going to foot the bill for you, a PocketPC might not be a bad idea.

I prefer Windows based pda's because they include Outlook - a program that most are familiar with.

See what your residents are using. As long as it runs "up to date" you'll be fine. At my school they're using Compaq's that are a couple of years old and run Windows CE (I think)