Medical Student Perspectives: How to Create a Low-Budget Medical School Survival Toolkit on Your iPhone: Essential iPhone Apps for Medical Students
Are you interested in making medical school a little easier? Would you like to use some of the best medical iPhone apps? Here are some of the most essential iPhone apps for medical students on a tight budget. The methods of searching for these apps included limiting to English language-based apps, limiting to apps under $1.00, sorting by app popularity, and selecting apps with potential benefit to medical students. Below are some of the most essential iPhone apps for medical students.
91ºÚÁÏÍø Doctor's
Dilemmaâ„¢ Mobile is based on the popular American
College of Physicians (91ºÚÁÏÍø) national Jeopardy-like medical quiz
competition held each year at the annual Internal Medicine Meeting.
New categories and questions are created each month to extend the
app's replay value. Well-timed study breaks are important, and this
app can be a good break to challenge yourself or a friend to a game
of medical knowledge. Cost: Free
Check out the other that 91ºÚÁÏÍø offers.
Dropbox is a way to
instantly sync your documents on your school computer, home
computer, friend's computer, and iPhone. You no longer need to
carry a USB drive or e-mail yourself files when you have this app.
Review your notes or PowerPoint lectures directly on your iPhone.
You first start with 2 free GB of memory, but you can increase the
online storage to 8 free GB. Cost: Free
EMS Tracker is made
specifically for Emergency Medical Technicians, but this app can be
modified to your needs. The home screen records the time while
seeing a patient. This screen can also be modified to suit your own
medical provider situation. The second screen holds a place for
your patient's vital signs (blood pressure, respiratory rate,
oxygen saturation, body temperature, and blood glucose level). The
event list screen provides a summary of all the information you
recorded while working-up your patient. Cost:
Free
If you do not speak Spanish or do not have a
Spanish translator on-site, then use the
Med-Spanish app. It provides helpful translations
of English medical phrases to Español. For some phrases
Med-Spanish can produce a pre-recorded Spanish message to
communicate with your patients. Besides general introductions,
Med-Spanish provides English to Spanish phrases that facilitate
obtaining medical histories and physical exams. It can also be used
as a quick resource if your school offers a Medical Spanish
elective. Cost: Free
MedCalc is probably one of the most
versatile medical apps on the iPhone. This is the only app that is
going cost you money in this toolkit, but it is well worth the
investment. It is still cheaper than most pocket medical reference
books. MedCalc gives you easy access to complicated formulas. Along
with having the capabilities to calculate an A-a O2 gradient, the
Henderson-Hasselbach equation, and sensitivity/specificity, MedCalc
also includes other features such as a dermatome map, a Snellen eye
chart, several unit conversions, and more than 150
calculations/utilities. Cost: $0.99
For more validated medical information download
Medical Reference. This application by the
University of Maryland Medical Center provides information on
symptoms, injury, disease, surgery, nutrition, special topics,
poison, and medical tests. Cost: Free
Medscape is a medical information
app you can use if your iPhone is unable to connect to the
internet. You also have the option to download more than 40,000
clinical reference articles directly into your phone. This is a
WebMD app that can be used for point-of-care service that includes
information on procedures and protocols. Just like another popular
app Epocrates, Medscape provides drug information
including dosing, indications, drug interactions, adverse effects,
contraindications, and mechanism of action. This can be a useful
program while studying for pharmacology or while you are working in
the hospital. Cost: Free
The Neuromind app provides a
listing of neurological scores and assessment tools, but you
probably will not use most these resources unless you are a
neurology or neurosurgery resident. However, click on the "Other"
tab, and you can view convenient images to assist you with your
neuroanatomy courses or to better demonstrate neurological
information to some of your patients. Cost:
Free
Wikipedia is a staple resource
for many students. Wikipedia is a multilingual, web-based,
free-content encyclopedia. Download this app for convenient access
to this supplemental learning tool to any medical education.
However, since Wikipedia content is continuously being created and
updated, be aware that some content can contain misinformation.
Cost: Free
Ryan Estaris
Council of Student Members, Southern Region Representative
Louisiana State University - New Orleans School of Medicine, Class
of 2013
E-mail: restar@lsuhsc.edu
Disclaimer: The list does not necessarily constitute endorsement by 91ºÚÁÏÍø and/or CSM for any of the following products. The following is not a comprehensive list of all apps appropriate for medical students. The accuracy and reliability of each app has not been evaluated. All medical information should be independently verified through consulting a licensed health care provider. All information regarding the apps including description, availability and price is subject to change without notice.