Top 3 Family Medicine Applications for Android and iPhones

Often called the gatekeepers of the medical sector, Family Medicine physicians are an under-appreciated asset to any treatment regimen.  This field is quite different from a more specialized practice on a few fronts.  To start off with, a Family practitioner is one of the few professions in medicine where a doctor can have a typical 9 to 5 job and have the illusion of a “normal life” compared to their surgical counterparts who often spend more time in the OR than their own living rooms.  

Another is because of this easier schedule, it is only natural for a Family physician to not receive the same compensation as other fields in Medicine and that is the trend in the United States, Canada, and even many countries in the European Union. Whether this is true or not is up for debate but the unfortunate stereotype lingers in the medical community even in current medicine.  

Although a Family Physician may not require the same in-depth residency that other fields demand, this specialty is no holiday as physicians often have to have a respectable knowledge about multiple facets of medicine that most of their colleagues forget after their board examinations.  

In order to be effective, a Family physician must understand Pediatrics, Cardiology, Dermatology, and Diseases of Society enough to effectively care for the hypothetical patients just mentioned.  It is hard for a physician to be skilled in one field, let alone six or seven so even a Family physician may need to pull out their iPhones during a coffee break and check up on some of the treatment protocols for common diseases.  Here is a list of the top 3 applications that may help if you are that Family physician.   

Number 1: Pretest Family Medicine by McGraw Hills

This application is one of many from a long line of Pretest products that are useful for any medical student or medical resident preparing for Boards or a Family practitioner just wanting to review some of the latest material.  This application provides a platform where any user is able to test their knowledge using USMLE-style questions.  After the completion of the test, the user will receive a comprehensive breakdown of their strengths and weaknesses and be able to tailor their reviewing to study more effectively.  A user will also be able to flag difficult questions and go back to them later in potential quizzes.  

READ The Daily Schedule Of A Physician

This app is available both on Android and iOS platforms and received a strong 4.2/5 stars.  Users are able to download the files for free and traverse through 25 free practice questions covering topics related to Preventive Medicine, Doctor-Patient Issues, Acute Complaints, and Chronic Conditions.  For an additional $3.99, a user will be granted access to the entire question bank totally over 500 questions.  The questions are high-yield topics bound to surface during Family Medicine rotations and would be a good app to have in any arsenal.  

Two More Essential Apps for Family Medicine Specialists 

Number 2:  Family Medicine Hand Book by Everyone

This application is a very practical download for your smartphone and one I highly recommend.  This app is more useful for general knowledge rather than reviewing questions for the Boards and more useful for the physicians and residents although students will surely benefit, too.  Once a user downloads the app, a glossary of common conditions will be available for the user to peruse.   Diseases are grouped alphabetically allowing a user to find a disease quickly.   Once a disease is selected, a user will open a very comprehensive overview of the condition in question, the common presentations, main causes, and treatment options for a disease.  This is a useful application to have when a patient walks into your clinic with a tropical disease that you may have a hard time remembering as it is a disease typically only seen on board questions.  Just slip into the back for a moment and learn everything you need to know to manage Schitosomiasis.  

I have used this app myself when I shadowed in my Dad's Family Medicine practice and can reassure you that it works.  If you are new to the field, it can be challenging to have a strong foundation in multiple subjects at once.  In Cardiology, everything is centered around the circulatory system but the scope of material required to be a competent Family physician was much larger.  This app was a good aid to help adjust to the new demands and also provided me some reassurance when I wasn't sure I was recalling the proper information to help my patients.  

Number 3:  LexiComp

This application is an excellent resource and every Family physician should have this available on their phones.  This application focuses on medications and is a great way to determine common medications, dosages, and side effects prior to writing the scripts.  Thankfully enough, drug representatives have to go home at some point during the day and this application is a great filler to hold you over until their next visit.  

READ Telemedicine Reviews: A Physician's View on Online Doctor Consultations & Virtual Doctor Visits

New users are able to download the application and test it out for a 30-day free trial period.  Once activated, a user can navigate through a large variety of different medication categories such as Drug Calculators, common Drug Allergy and Idiosyncratic Reactions, Pediatrics, and countless more.  Doctors will also get a comprehensive list that is available in IV forms that can be useful in a number of settings.  Another beneficial feature is that a list of potential drug interactions can be easily summoned allowing the physician to augment therapies to avoid unwanted side effects.  

The most helpful for a new intern or any physician starting in a new center is that this application has a list of potential acronyms or brand names that may be used to identify the unknown medication.  This will accelerate the transition to the new environment and shift the focus back to patient care rather than figuring out pharmacological headaches.