USF College of Pharmacy Computer Requirements
For the overall convenience to the students, and flexibility of our program, the College of Pharmacy will be supporting both IBM compatible (Microsoft Windows) and Macintosh operating systems (OS). It is strongly suggested the student has a notebook computer versus a desktop.
IBM compatible:
Hardware minimum requirements:
2.1 GHz Intel Core Duo (or equivalent)
250 GB hard drive
4 GB RAM
DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver
WiFi 802.11 g/b/n wireless card
Bluetooth capability
USB ports
USB Flash Drive (4 GB minimum)
Software minimum requirements:
Windows 7 OS
Microsoft Office (2007 or 2010)
Adobe Acrobat reader (latest version)
Antivirus software, Firewall software
Windows media player (latest version)
Quicktime player (latest version)
Sun Java
Adobe Flash/Shockwave
Dell is the preferred IBM compatible/Windows computer, as USF Health IT can perform hardware repairs with greater ease.
Macintosh:
Hardware minimum requirements:
2.4 GHz Intel Core Duo (or equivalent)
250 GB hard drive
4 GB RAM
WiFi 802.11 g/b/n wireless card
Bluetooth capability
USB ports
USB Flash Drive (4 GB minimum)
Software minimum requirements:
Snow Leopard OS
Microsoft Office (2008 or 2011)
Adobe Acrobat reader (latest version)
Quicktime player (latest version)
Windows Media Components for Quicktime (latest version)
Adobe Flash/Shockwave
The College of Pharmacy faculty is aware of potential limitations of the Macintosh OS compatibility with some Windows OS native applications. The Macintosh user has two options:
1. Boot Camp. Boot Camp is an application native in Macintosh OS and will allow the user to select the OS at startup (Macintosh or Windows)
2. Purchase of a virtual machine emulation program (Parallels or VMWare Fusion ($39.99 and $49.99 with student discount, respectively) that will allow for simultaneous computing on both OS
3. Please read for more information: http://www.apple.com/osx/what-is/compatibility.html
DVD/optical drives
DVD/optical drives are optional, as the use of such devices are not entirely necessary at this date. However, if you choose to purchase, or already have a computer that does not have a DVD/optical drive, there may be some software programs in which this is required. The USF Computer Store at the Marshall Center can help remedy this. If you make a purchase from USF Computer Store, they can install the software sans a DVD/optical drive for a small fee ($15).
Smartphones/ipod touch
Students are required to have a smartphone (with wifi capability) or an ipod touch.
Tablet devices:
The tablet devices will be implemented as companion and supplemental, and are not intended, at this time, to be used as replacement device for a fully functional computer.
Patient confidentiality and privacy is of utmost concern, and will be up to the students to be cognizant of any and all computerized/digitized patient information and bein compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Therefore it is strongly recommended that students be engaged in encrypting their USB Flash Drives and enabling security features on their computer
Recommended (but not required):
External hard drive
Color printer
Web camera
DVD/optical drive