Useful Apps for the Classroom

We live in an age of technology.  I use several useful apps on a regular basis.  The first app is Medscape.  This very popular app provides healthcare professionals, healthcare providers, and students a robust amount of information and educational tools.  This free app must be registered once before the user can access the information.  After registration is complete, Medscape will deliver a personalized specialty site that best matches your profile. The content contains review articles, journal commentary, book reviews, and patient education articles. Free comprehensive conference coverage is included that summarizes key data from the medical community and presentations from major medical conferences. The app also provides the user access the web’s first primary-source medical journal.

Another app that I find very useful is Davis’s Laboratory and Diagnostic Tests.  The user must pay a one-time fee of $49.99 to access the information in this app, but I have found it very helpful.  The user, usually a healthcare provider, can access hundreds of detailed test descriptions to increase the quality of care provided to the patient.  The app includes directions that describe how to prepare for certain tests, which test is best to order, and how to properly collect a specimen.  Differential diagnoses are also included for abnormal test results.

The app that I use most frequently in practice and in the classroom is the Epocrates app.   It is well worth the yearly investment of $174.99 to have Epocrates Plus readily available.  The desktop version is also accessible when you purchase Epocrates Plus.  A free version is available, but has very limited access.  With Epocrates Plus, the user has access to clinical practice guidelines, disease information, alternative medicine, ICD-9 and CPT codes, infectious disease treatment, labs, drug information, interaction check, pill ID, formulary, athenaText, and tables.  It is an invaluable resource in the clinical setting.

The last app that I would like to discuss is Nursing Central.  This is yet another great investment at$169.95 for a yearly subscription.  Nursing Central is the premier source of disease, drug, and test information for nurses.  The user can access a vast database to find drug information or to search a wide variety of journal articles.  The app contains practical guidelines for nursing diagnoses and patient care.  The app includes pictures, illustrations, videos, tables, and dictionary pronunciations.