Medical school? There’s an app for that. Well, there are plenty of apps to help with that.
Med school students study day and night to keep up with their coursework, study for exams and understand the clinical practice. The light at the end of the tunnel is that they’ll have a rewarding career as a healthcare professional when they complete their schooling and residency. This light can seem distant, as even the shortest medical education lasts roughly 10 years.
Meanwhile, medical students need to perform rote memorization to retain drug names and do more involved thought-work to decipher complex clinical cases and diagnose patients. Apps and online platforms are here to help by providing an extensive database of questions, study aids and tools that reinforce difficult concepts.
What are the best apps for medical students?
Optimize your med school study sessions with the following apps. If you’re still waiting to get into med school, consider checking out the following list of some of the best apps for pre-med students. After all, you’ll start learning human anatomy long before you start med school.
- MedCalX: If you’re becoming a doctor, you probably don’t mind math (or you’re even good at it), but that doesn’t mean you wouldn’t want help running calculations quickly. This medical calculator provides formulas, scores, scales and classifications. The mobile app is only available for iOS.
- Prognosis: When it’s time to practice your case studies, make your work more fun by using this approachable medical app. Prognosis helps you diagnose by testing your knowledge of symptoms, indicators and patient profiles. This is one of the best apps for 3rd-year medical students who’ve left the classroom and are doing clinical rotations. It’s compatible with both Android and iOS.
- Muscle and Bone Anatomy 3D: Consider this your pocket-sized guide to the human body, as it’s one of the best apps for medical students for anatomy. This app is an excellent reference for the human musculoskeletal system. Remember that you’re human, too, and it’s okay to have to look things up from time to time. It’s available for Android and iOS.
- Anki: This isn’t exactly a med school app, but isn’t a program that can store 100,000+ virtual notecards just made for medical education? Based on the spaced repetition concept, this program helps you save on paper when running questions before an exam. It’s available in the Google Play and Apple stores.
- Medscape: Want to read up on a recent medical conference or look up a drug interaction? This app is a one-stop shop for healthcare professionals. It’s a resource that contains medical news, pharmacology and disease information and clinical answers. It also allows you to connect with other medical professionals to share rare cases and ask for a consultation. This free app is available for both iPhones and Android devices.
- Touch Surgery: As one of the best surgery apps for medical students, this program guides users through procedures. It boasts a vast library of different surgeries and is available for iOS and Android.
Make the most of your time with study apps
You’re great at treating patients, breaking down tough clinical scenarios and memorizing almost unpronounceable medical terminology. But how are your study skills? Even if you’re super organized, medical school has a way of taking up all your time, so finding slots to study requires an air-tight plan. Here are some of the best study tools for medical students that can help you stay on task. The best part is they’re available for both iPhone and Android devices.
- Todoist: This app is a to-do list and planner rolled into a user-friendly interface. It even helps you bifurcate your study time from your me time, and we can get behind that. We can’t emphasize the importance of taking breaks and making time for self-care enough!
- Forest: It can be hard to stay productive—even if you’re a high-achieving student—when you’re tired and burnt out. But, you can make the most of your study time by limiting distractions and focusing on the task at hand. Forest helps you do just this by letting you set a timer for your no-screen time. Your screen-free hours get converted into donated trees (and some extra time for you to catch up on your favorite show).
- Ayoa: We all think differently, and Ayoa understands that. This app allows you to plan with mind maps, whiteboards, workflows, Gantt charts and more.
Tips for studying effectively
Combine the power of great apps and excellent study skills to succeed. Here are some of the best practices to implement in your study sessions:
- Review material regularly: If you keep up with your coursework, you’ll do far less cramming at exam time. Solve questions in the moment when you can. Studying at an even pace helps you retain information. And when the time comes to sit for the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE), which will test you on what you learned in medical school, you’ll be less stressed.
- Write things down: Apps are great but don’t underestimate the power of a handwritten note. Our brains are programmed so that when we write things down, they commit them to memorizing better. So, even if it’s just the notes from the lectures you attend, put part of your studies in writing.
- Test your medical knowledge: You can monitor your progress by testing yourself as you go using your own questions or tools found online. There are vast databases of quizzes and cases you can use—yet another win for technology!
- Study in a group: We all need our alone time, but balancing these solo sessions with group study can help us cover most of the material in different ways. You can quiz (and be quizzed by) your peers and solve clinical cases together.
Technology is here to stay
Whichever study apps you choose, you’ll excel both academically and while practicing, as technology will only advance over the years. With time, the field of medicine is bound to witness a wealth of developments. Even if you’re old school in your thoughts, you may want to consider evolving with these advancements. So, take advantage of all the technology out there to become your best self and conquer your medical journey like the pro you are.
And don’t forget to be comfortable in premium scrubs or loungewear. We may not be able to help you take the USMLE or the MCAT, but we can help you with high-performing scrubs and a student discount to have you looking and feeling your best when you pass with flying colors. You’ve got this!