>2) Make a synchronization routine. The doctors carry a copy of the database with them then manually schronize it when they arrive in the unit or at an live ethernet port.

Create a new local view in a separate database each time someone wants to take the patients table along. Take offline, update on return, destroy when finished.

Mmmm... VFP3 didn't have offline views. They can be simulated, though, using local tables and keeping update logs, and the control of the process is rather tricky, but it can be done.