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Apps Recommended by First-Year Medical Students

I am about two months into my first year of medical school at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center and it’s been going, to say the least! Our curriculum uses a block schedule and we are about two thirds of the way done with anatomy. I wanted to take the time to share some apps that have helped me and my classmates throughout our medical education journey so far.

I don't know how to study

 

 

My favorite app I’ve used so far this semester is the Essential Anatomy 5 app, which I purchased for $15 on my iPad mini. With this app, you can visualize various body systems with pinch-and-zoom functionality and nearly 360 degree rotation. It has similarities to the Anatomage Table (minus the cross-sectional feature) but in a carry wherever you go format! I like to bring my iPad inside of a gallon-sized plastic zip top bag into our cadaver lab to visualize structures while I’m dissecting and when I’m reviewing. I think this app could and should be used in an actual healthcare setting to show patients where different structures are in their bodies to assist in teaching them about their conditions. This app is available on the iPad, iPhone, and OS X.

 

Livingston Martin, a fellow first-year medical student at TTUHSC, and founder of our school’s new Technology in Medicine Club, recommends Complete Anatomy over the Essential Anatomy app. Both of these apps are made by the same company. Livingston prefers Complete Anatomy because you can learn a greater depth of information with it. For example, you can highlight the origin paths for nerves (to see the whole route of the vagus nerve, for example!) and see more specific branches of arteries. One of the more useful features to me is the ability to isolate muscles and watch short animations of their actions. The full version of Complete Anatomy can be purchased for $50 and is available on the iPad. It recently launched on OS X, with plans to expand to Windows users sometime in 2017.

 

If you prefer to study with flashcards, I recommend looking into Firecracker, which has iOS and Android apps as well as a website interface, or Anki, which has apps for iOS, OS X, Windows, the Windows Phone, and Android and Kindle devices. Many students like to use both tools for MCAT prep as well as for USMLE prep. When it comes to Anki, you have to make your own flashcard decks, which can take a lot of time, or depend on sharing decks with your friends. It’s great though in that it is completely free.

 

Livingston finds that Firecracker has a more consistent learning algorithm than Anki, and if you wish to write to the company about improvements, they are very responsive. Firecracker offers a $450 subscription for four years of Step 1 and Step 2 prep. A nice feature is that you can refer a friend and get 20% of your subscription reimbursed each time, while your friends get up to 40% off theirs! Currently, after you’ve referred 5 friends, you will start getting a free one-month extension per friend you’ve referred. AMSA members get a free 60-day trial and a discount afterwards. You can find more information here: //www.amsa.org/members/benefits/firecracker/

 

When it comes to reference apps, there are several cheap ones you can choose from:

  • UptoDate is highly stressed as a research tool by my school’s library and the smartphone app comes in handy for small amounts of research for assignments and to keep updated on research findings. It requires an institutional subscription for access.
  • The DynaMed Plus app for iPad, iPhone, and Android devices is similar to UptoDate in that it’s encyclopedia-like, but it may be too in-depth for first year medical students. It’s perfect if you want to know just about everything about a specific subject!
  • MedScape has a fast interface and can give you the ‘basics’ of things you’d like to research on.
  • Omnio is available on the iPad, iPhone, and on Android devices. Livingston describes it as “more expansive than MedScape, and more concise than DynaMed.” It is basically a reference app that has a symptom checker, drug interaction analyzer, and references to ICD-10 codes among other things.

 

For quick and specific reference apps, there are a couple that Livingston recommends:

  • Taber’s Medical Dictionary is useful for when you hear medical terminology and want to easily find their meanings and language roots. This comes into use a lot during anatomy!
  • Infectious Disease Compendium is a reference app that can teach you about various types of bugs, drugs, and diseases and it is written in an informative and entertaining way. It is updated on a regular basis and is available on the iPhone and iPad for $6. It is a great reference tool when taking a course that covers microbiology and immunology and multisystem disorders.
  • Heart Murmur Pro is handy to help you learn different cardiac rhythms when studying for how to administer the cardiovascular system portion of a complete physical exam.
  • LabGear is a quick reference app for panel values, such as for a complete metabolic or immune system panel.
  • Finally, Epocrates was suggested to me by a paramedic that led a volunteer-based emergency response team that I was involved with in undergrad. If you are a pre-medical student who is considering training as an EMT, I would highly recommend this! It is a medical reference app that helps you to review drug prescribing and safety information for just about every pharmaceutical out there.

 

My favorite app in general is the Canopy Medical Translator, which I downloaded for free with an AMSA promo code soon after it came out. It’s an amazing app that I used on occasion when volunteering at a family medicine clinic in undergrad. I know for certain that it will come into use when I volunteer at my school’s free health clinic and it will also prepare me for a Spanish-based OSCE that we will have during our second year. This app allows you to look up translations for questions and statements in 15 different languages for every aspect of a physical exam. For most languages, like Spanish, you can actually play translations out loud. There is also direct access to a translator via phone call! Canopy is partnered with AMSA and you can access discount information here:

http://try.canopyapps.com/canopy-medical-spanish-amsa/

 

Are there any apps or learning resources that you’ve found to be helpful to you as a pre-medical or medical student? Feel free to comment below!

 

Elisa Vengalil
AMSA Wellness & Student Life Committee, Advocacy Coordinator
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, M.D. Candidate
If you’d like to reach Livingston for advice on medical apps, he can be reached at livingston.martin@ttuhsc.edu. Elisa can be reached at wsl.advocacy@amsa.org.

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10 Comments

  1. Steve says:
    November 21, 2016 at 10:11 am

    Also have a look at http://www.lecturio.com and the associated iOS and Android apps. Lots of free videos and all the topics covered for USMLE Step 1. Plus high yield questions.

    Reply
    • Dylan says:
      July 10, 2017 at 1:40 am

      This is a great list! I have seen a few of these talked about before on other posts! If anyone is interested in the best TedMed talks check out HonorableMed.com/medical-ted-talks/

      Reply
  2. Charles says:
    February 18, 2017 at 6:11 pm

    can someone tell me why a student should join AMSA?

    Reply
    • IC says:
      March 9, 2017 at 12:07 pm

      Charles,

      My name is Isaiah Cochran. I am an M2 at Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine and I also happen to be VP of Membership for AMSA. Please email me at vpm@amsa.org and we can discuss what AMSA has to offer for both premedical, and medical students.

      Reply
  3. Rad Rad says:
    April 3, 2017 at 11:33 pm

    Please also consider this recently launched free iOS and Android mobile app, designed specifically for medical students based on standardized national objectives.

    This innovative app includes 500+ anatomy questions featuring x-ray, CT, MRI and ultrasound images. There are also 60+ fully-worked clinical cases, 3 comprehensive approaches for reading images and a quiz for learning which tests to order!

    Reply
  4. Paul says:
    February 22, 2018 at 8:09 am

    Anatomy Next – both the Cranial Nerve app and the website, which currently provides 3D anatomy learning for free, should be added to this list as well. Helps a lot, especially in the first years.

    Reply
  5. Christian Habermann says:
    May 9, 2018 at 5:12 pm

    Here is a great one that is used at Yale, Brown, UCSF http://www.xebrapro.com/xebra-ed/. It uses a case based format and is ideal for improving your diagnostic skill.

    Reply
  6. New Technologies in the Medical Education Industry - Techno Aisle says:
    May 21, 2018 at 3:26 am

    […] Reference mobile applications found to be helpful by first-year medical students that can solidify knowledge presented in the classroom include UptoDate, Taber’s Medical Dictionary, LabGear, and Heart Murmur Pro.  UptoDate is a research tool that helps with research paper formulation and can also keep you current with the latest research findings. Taber’s Medical Dictionary helps clarify medical terminology with a swift click of a button. LabGear serves as a reference for immune system panel values or complete metabolic panel values.  Heart Murmur Pro helps students learn different cardiac rhythms when studying to administer a complete physical examination (American Medical Student Association, 2016). […]

    Reply
  7. Akhil Arya says:
    July 25, 2019 at 4:09 am

    I really appreciate this post. I’ve been looking all over for this! Thank goodness I found it on this blog. You have made my day! I think this is an engaging and eye-opening material. Thank you so much for caring about your content and your readers.

    Reply
  8. Rajith Eranga says:
    March 4, 2020 at 1:08 pm

    This is a very comprehensive and interesting list of useful apps. There are newly released apps for OSCE Skills in Medicine and Surgery.
    Short Cases in Medicine – https://rermedapps.com/short-cases-in-medicine-app
    It gives a good collection of clinical cases, images, heart and lung sounds and more.

    Reply

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