Top 10 Medical Apps That Are Actually Useful for Physicians and Med Students

Top 10 lists are all the rage these days. They're short, to the point, and ideally provide you with some nuggets of info that you can actually use. So today I am pointing out several Top 10 lists of useful medical apps.

One caveat: new apps are launched all the time, so these types of lists may becaome outdated quickly.

iMedicalApps.com Top 10: 

First up is the list of the "Top 10 Free Medical Apps That Are Actually Useful to Doctors and Medical Students" as reviewed by the good people at www.iMedicalApps.com. Below is the list: 

1. Medscape
2. Epocrates
3. iRadiology
4. MedPageToday Mobile
5. Medical Radio
6. MedCalc
7. NeuroMind
8. Drug Trials
9. Eponyms (for Medical Students)
10. MSK Radiology Teaching File (LITE)

You can read in-depth reviews of these apps in the article.

I particularly like the list because it's not just the Top 10 as listed in the iTunes store. If you check out the top apps in the Medical Category in iTunes, you'll see that it has everything from potentially useful apps like Medscape and Epocrates to apps that I'm not sure actually qualify as "medical" (such as the app that shows where to find legal marijuana). The problem is that iTunes provides a lot of leeway in what gets included in the Medical Apps section of iTunes.

MobiHealthNews Top 10: 

Another list was compiled by mobihealthnews. Their list is called "The Real Top 10 iPhone Medical Apps." It has a few of the same ones as iMedicalApps but some others as well: 

1. Epocrates
2. Skyscape Medical Resources
3. EyeChart
4. MedCalc
5. Taber's Medical Dictionary
6. Davis' Drug Guide
7. Eponyms (for students)
8. ShyBladder
9. STAT ICD-9 LITE
10. PubMed on Tap LITE

As you can see there's some new stuff. Like ShyBladder, which helps those people "get things going". I tell you, there's an app for everything! Although, is it really a medical app?

iAppHealth Top 10: 

This list is from the folks at iAppHealth. These are not purely medical (some are more general health oriented), and they're from last year, but there's a couple interesting ones on the list here.

1. Epocrates
2. Medscape
3. Diagonose the Disease Game
4. Color Blind Test
5. Medical Encyclopedia
6. Muscle Head and Neck System
7. Swine Flu Tracker Map
8. Psych Drugs
9. MedCalc
10. Speed Bones LITE

So there are a few lists that might point you to some apps you haven't used yet. I personally find the Epocrates and Medscape apps very useful.

Now if there was a Number 11 on theses lists, I'm sure it would be the ACCP-SEEK iphone app...

About the Author

Stephen Welch

Senior Vice President, Communications
Executive Editor, CHEST

This blog, "It Ain't Rocket Surgery" is intended to help busy health-care professionals find useful online and mobile resources that will enhance their self-education and professional research efforts, or point out important topics of discussion related to online information and content. The blog's title is a Yogi Berra style mash-up of two common phrases, "it ain't brain surgery" and "it ain't rocket science". I hope it will be casual, fun, insightful, and -- most of all -- educational.

You can follow me on Twitter. 

I currently serve ACCP as the Senior Vice President of Communications, as well as the Executive Editor of CHEST, the ACCP’s flagship journal. During my 15 years here, ACCP has focused on growing and developing the editorial, technological, and business aspects of the College. We are constantly striving to make the journal and other ACCP educational content as accessible and useful to clinicians as possible.

When not at work, I like to spend time scuba diving with sharks, collecting original comic book artwork, exploring the digital world, and searching for good BBQ.

Your feedback about the blog is always appreciated. So are tips on good BBQ joints.