I once had a preceptor call his phone his peripheral brain. When he asked questions, he didn’t want me to answer with a simple “I don’t know,” he wanted me use my resources. While “I don’t know, I’ll look it up and get back to you tomorrow” may have been an acceptable answer in the past, we all have a plethora of information at our fingertips. These are some of the apps that I found most useful to have while on my clinical rotations.
UpToDate
UpToDate was my first line of defense when coming up with patient plans and answer preceptor questions. My hospital system luckily gave students a free UpToDate account with our EMR login. UpToDate is like the Wikipedia of medicine--it is constantly being updated with the most current information for just about any topic. You can use it to look up treatment algorithms for specific diagnoses, medications, symptoms, and more. I found the algorithms and images to be most helpful when coming up with treatment plans and making diagnoses. It is a much more reliable source of information than a quick Google search.
MDCalc
Different specialties use different calculations and scoring systems, which makes it very difficult to memorize them all. For example, you may need to calculate ASCVD scores while on family medicine to determine if a patient would benefit from a statin, find the CHADS-VASc and Child-Pugh scores for internal medicine, or use the NIH Stroke Scale for a patient in the emergency department. MDCalc has all of these scoring systems and calculations and allows you to select favorites to make it even easier. If there’s a calculation you need or a scoring criteria, MDCalc most likely has it.
Epocrates
This was my personal favorite pharmacology app. Epocrates has a free version that gives information on mechanism of action, common side effects, serious adverse effects, dosage information for various conditions, and medication interactions. The app is very simple to use and can help to answer any pharm questions your preceptor may ask.
Anki
Be prepared to have some down time on some of your clinical rotations and come with something to do. From waiting for a patient to labor on L&D to waiting on the OR to be turned over, having flashcards to stay busy and maximize learning inside the hospital to preserve your precious time outside the hospital is invaluable. There are tons of premade decks that you can use to help prepare for boards or for specialty-specific shelf exams.
TrueLearn (or Another Q Bank)
As we all know, practice questions are the key to success on board exams. TrueLearn has an app that allows you to do practice questions on the go. I found it extremely helpful to do about 10 random questions per day while on rotations to help prepare for boards, while also doing 10-20 specialty-specific questions per day.
Podcasts
For my commutes before and after rotations, I occasionally liked to listen to medicine-related podcasts. Some of my favorites were:
Procedure Ready OB/GYN
This podcast was phenomenal for my OB rotation! It goes over all the high-yield topics and prepares you for any questions your preceptor may try to trip you up with.
Core IM/Curbsiders Internal Medicine
Core IM is a great podcast for medical students. Curbsiders is more geared towards practicing physicians. However, if you have time, they review some great clinical information that may really help you impress your preceptors! These episodes are longer but go in depth and review multiple clinical scenarios per episode.
EM Clerkship
The earlier episodes are very helpful to prepare you for your emergency medicine rotation. The ED is like the Wild West of the hospital: don’t go in unprepared! The more recent episodes go through an oral-boards-style case in each episode, which is also very helpful for some of the more common chief complaints that you will see on your EM rotation.
Divine Intervention
This was my favorite boards-focused podcast for COMLEX Level 2. The host reviews high-yield topics in short, focused episodes. It was very manageable to listen to these episodes in the morning, on a quick lunch break, or binge the entire week in one sitting.
