By Hugo Luis Sánchez González
General Practitioner
As Steve Jobs said when he first presented the iPhone in 2007, ‘The magic is in the software.’ There are applications which make these devices useful for almost everyone, regardless of user type or profile, and this includes doctors.
Mobile applications can be useful for professionals and medical students to make procedures more efficient, provide information in real time, reduce data input errors and much more.
But remember, no application or piece of technology is more important than medical ideas, these applications should be seen as simple tools which can help you in your work and make your ideas more focused and efficient.
ABG.
This application interprets arterial gases, one of the elements analyzed during a blood test. It is useful when you have doubts about the status of the body’s acid base. It is available in English, is free on iOS and Android and there is also a paid version for Android which costs US$1.99.
APGAR.
In times past, the Apgar table was placed in thermal cots to monitor new-born babies. With this application, all you have to do is enter the known variables to get a rapid read-out. It is available in English, is free for Android and costs US$0.99 for iOS.
Glasgow Coma Scale.
This scale is often a headache for students and some emergency room doctors. There is always a table stuck to the wall at trauma centers. This application is useful for evaluating the neurological state of a patient after trauma, it has an intelligent interface and allows you to choose between an adult or a child. There are many applications with this scale. The version for Android comes in different languages, including Spanish, and is free.
Sanford Guide Antimicrobial Therapy 2011-2012.
Anyone familiar with this book will know that having this guide to antibiotics on their smartphone would be very useful, as it will answer many questions about the subject. With multiple search options, it is continually updated with the latest medicines. For Android it is only available in English and costs US$29.99, and for iOS it costs US$360.
VisualDx.
Many doctors have difficulty recognizing what they see in an image. To help remove any doubt, VisualDX is a full color image database of a large number of diseases together with a brief description which should make it easier to arrive at a diagnosis. It has English versions for iOS and Android and is free.
Source: Enterco
