iPhone/iPad apps useful for school?

[nychila]

I'm wondering if getting an iPhone or iPad to take full advantage of their apps would be helpful for the first and second year of medical school?

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[projectlogic]

There's already a thread on this: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=897856

 

[nychila]

There's already a thread on this: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=897856

Thanks, I just saw that thread, but what I'm asking is whether iPhone or iPad apps are actually helpful for academic purposes in the first 2 years of med school, rather than what are some academically helpful apps.

 

[dextor2003]

I'm wondering if getting an iPhone or iPad to take full advantage of their apps would be helpful for the first and second year of medical school?

Not in med school yet, but I used an app called Mental Case to study flashcards during downtime/times of exhaustion during my MCAT prep. The most I got out of it was probably just having tons of physics equations and concepts burned into my head. Granted physics was the highest score on my test, I wouldn't say the reason was the iphone app over the extensive amount of actual studying/practice problems I did for it.

I don't plan on getting an ipad for med school, but I think I'll still be using my iphone for the flashcard apps like Mental Case or Anki. Though honestly, I think you'll be perfectly fine without either device as well. You can always just make notecards the traditional way and review them when you're walking to class and such. I don't see a point of spending a couple hundred on these devices just for electronic flashcards..There may be other apps that could make it worth it, but I'm unaware of them..

Now this is just for the first two years. I imagine ipad/iphone apps like Medscape and Epocrates would come in quite handy during the clinical years.

 

[achamess]

+ for Anki. Best app I have.

Other useful ones:

(1) inkling (textbook reader)
(2) medscape
(3) good pdf reader (goodreader, iAnnotate)

 

[thedoctor8706]

Not in med school yet, but I used an app called Mental Case to study flashcards during downtime/times of exhaustion during my MCAT prep. The most I got out of it was probably just having tons of physics equations and concepts burned into my head. Granted physics was the highest score on my test, I wouldn't say the reason was the iphone app over the extensive amount of actual studying/practice problems I did for it.

I don't plan on getting an ipad for med school, but I think I'll still be using my iphone for the flashcard apps like Mental Case or Anki. Though honestly, I think you'll be perfectly fine without either device as well. You can always just make notecards the traditional way and review them when you're walking to class and such. I don't see a point of spending a couple hundred on these devices just for electronic flashcards..There may be other apps that could make it worth it, but I'm unaware of them..

Now this is just for the first two years. I imagine ipad/iphone apps like Medscape and Epocrates would come in quite handy during the clinical years.

I disagree, I think iPads (or whatever tablet you prefer) are very helpful for the first two years. They can actually save you money in the long run, depending on your study techniques and/or school policy's. It would cost more to print out all my self made study guides and class notes than to just study them off of an iPad screen. Not to mention its worth it for the convenience of having all of your notes with you in one easy, small device, rather than lugging around binders. Med school has a LOT of paper involved, and having a tablet is great for eliminating that. You may have relied on textbooks in undergrad, but med school is all about learning off of a professor made handouts, and these are much easier to handle in electronic format rather than stacks of binders. And as far as flash cards go, I find it's faster to make them electronically then by hand.

This really all depends on your style though, as some may not like taking notes on a screen instead of on traditional paper. It was weird for me at first, but now that I've made the adjustment, I'm never looking back! Check out that other thread for tips on optimizing your experience.

 

[dextor2003]

I disagree, I think iPads (or whatever tablet you prefer) are very helpful for the first two years. They can actually save you money in the long run, depending on your study techniques and/or school policy's. It would cost more to print out all my self made study guides and class notes than to just study them off of an iPad screen. Not to mention its worth it for the convenience of having all of your notes with you in one easy, small device, rather than lugging around binders. Med school has a LOT of paper involved, and having a tablet is great for eliminating that. You may have relied on textbooks in undergrad, but med school is all about learning off of a professor made handouts, and these are much easier to handle in electronic format rather than stacks of binders. And as far as flash cards go, I find it's faster to make them electronically then by hand.

This really all depends on your style though, as some may not like taking notes on a screen instead of on traditional paper. It was weird for me at first, but now that I've made the adjustment, I'm never looking back! Check out that other thread for tips on optimizing your experience.

Haha, this is great. I didn't mention anything about taking notes/electronic annotation because I assumed the OP was talking about study techniques that you can only do with Ipads/Iphones. But electronic note-taking/studying ftw 👍 I did it all throughout undergrad, as well as for MCAT prep. But I've been using my laptop instead of an Ipad. Ipads may weigh less, but I don't think I'll ever be carrying much during med school other than my laptop anyway. So I'm perfectly happy with what I have. And as far as pdf readers/editers go, Acrobat + Preview work great for me. Now if OP doesn't already have a laptop, then yes, an Ipad would probably be a great option (though personally, I'd just get a laptop).

And yea, electronic flash cards are easier, but I wouldn't spend a couple hundred for them when I could just make them myself.

 

[Mithril]

UpToDate. My god, I love this app.

 

[ManBroDude]

Years 1 and 2: Visual Body, Anki, and Notability.

 

[chasonian]

I'm gonna add Goodreader to the above list. Those apps plus a few textbooks are all I use. No pencil/paper....