Read time: 3 minutes

In this article, Anush, a final-year medical student, discusses some of the best apps you can use while you’re on the wards.

MDCalc

“Can you do an AMTS on this patient?”
“Can you check Wells’ score the patient in bed X?”

MDCalc let’s you pull out any of the millions of scoring systems used in hospitals up on your phone. Gone are the days of looking confused as you struggle to remember all the components of a score in front of a patient.

The Official BNF App

Do you ever forget the doses of certain medications? Do you ever blank on the important side effects or interactions?

If you answered yes to either of these questions, the official BNF app will definitely help you out!

Much more easier to navigate than the ye olde physical BNF book, you can easily search for the drug you’re looking for. You can even list several drugs if you’re worried that some are interacting!

MicroGuide

Antibiotic stewardship is a hugely important part of medical practice. With the rise in resistant organisms such as MRSA, ensuring we give appropriate antibiotics based on the source of the infection and local sensitivities is key.

This is why antibiotic guidance varies so much between trusts! Luckily for us, we can easily check the local guidance using MicroGuide – download the app, go to “Get Guides” and find the trust you’re placed to get started!

Induction

Ever asked if you could ring microbiology to chase some cultures? Or wish you knew how to bleep the F1 you’re meant to be shadowing but just can’t find.

Induction is one of the most useful tools – it effectively acts as a directory for all of the registered bleeps and phones for the hospital, so you can quickly contact whoever you need. In addition to these, it allows you to ring hospital phones from your own mobile. Very convenient!

 

Read Time: 5 minutes

In this article, Anush will discuss some of the best apps and online resources in order to maximise your learning in pre-clinical medicine.

Smartphones and tablets are an intrinsic part of our lives (for better or for worse). Distractions aside, here as some apps we’ve found really useful when studying and preparing for exams.

Anatomy Apps

TeachMeAnatomy – Free (iOS/Android/Web)

Struggling with anatomy and need more visual summaries of what is going on within the oh-so-complex human body? TeachMeAnatomy is a Wiki of all the anatomy you’ll need to know during medical school. Concise and colourful, it has lots of very useful labelled diagrams, without vast amounts of text. An especially useful feature is being able to test yourself on the material you’ve just learnt through quizzes.

Link: teachmeanatomy.com

Acland’s Anatomy Atlas – Free (Web)

The famous Robert Acland takes you through the anatomy of the body using real dissections in this blast from the past. Filmed in the late 90s, UCL gives us institutional access to an online version of this, arranged by organ system.

Link: https://aclandanatomy.com/

Biodigital Human – Free (Web/iOS/Android)

Imagine taking your dissection table on the go with you, wherever you are and whenever you want. This is the Biodigital Human, a free tool you can use on your computer or mobile device. You can focus in on part of the body with pre-made models, or start off with a complete human body and dissect it layer-by-layer.

Link: https://www.biodigital.com/ 

Note Taking and Revision Tools

Notion – Free (Web/iOS/Android)

An all-in-one workspace allowing you to organise your notes in a Wiki-esque format, Notion promises to be more than just a word processor. You can collaborate on notes, add tasks, sort them in complex databases and embed dynamic content, like useful videos and audio clips. All you ever need to stay on top of uni work! Best of all, login with your ac.uk email address and enjoy unlimited storage and premium features for free.

Link: notion.so 

Google Drive – Free (Web/iOS/Android)

The original collaborative word processor allows you to write together with shared notes and presentations. It worked well back in 2015 when I started university and it works just as well now. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!

Link: drive.google.com 

Anki – Free (Web/PC/Mac/Android) or £23 (iOS)

Spaced repetition is a fantastic way to help make those facts stick – reviewing content regularly ensures it is fresh in your memory. 

 

Anki is a flashcard app that makes spaced repetition easy – it contains algorithms that calculate exactly how often you need to review information for optimal memory commitment, based on how confidently you previously recalled the information. All you need to do is make the flashcards (or import a revision deck).

Link: https://apps.ankiweb.net/

Microsoft Onenote – Free (Web/iOS/Android)

A fantastic tool that allows you to put all your notes in one place, whether they be digitally handwritten or typed, OneNote lets you import documents and other media, allowing you to annotate them however you wish.

Link: https://www.onenote.com/

Read Time: 5 minutes

In this post, Anush, a final year medical student, will endeavour to convince you that outpatient clinics are some of the most useful learning opportunities available to you, and how you can make use of them.

Ah, the outpatients department: what most medical students seem to believe is the less interesting little brother of ward-based inpatient care. I’m here to convince you otherwise – in this post we’ll talk about what to expect from an outpatient clinic and how you can maximise your learning in this setting.

What happens at outpatient clinics?

Outpatient clinics serve a number of different purposes based on the specialty, but can broadly be categorised into two major groups:

• New Attenders (diagnostic) clinics – new patients (referred in by GPs) are seen by a specialist for the first time (e.g. someone with ongoing joint pain being referred to rheumatology).

• Follow up clinics – provide continuity of care between the specialist department and the patient (e.g. a surgeon following up a patient following a procedure).

 

Clinics vary from specialty to specialty, and may even be centred around a specific disease. For instance, orthopaedics run separate knee and hip clinics, while endocrinology have an entire service dedicated purely to diabetes.

Your typical clinic appointment

1. Patient walks in, doctor checks identifiers
2. Focussed clerking of new patient (or catch-up with follow ups)
3. Shared discussion about management plan

So I’m just watching the doctor…that doesn’t sound so useful?

This isn’t all you’ll be doing, but watching a good doctor at work can help you formulate your own consultation style, something you can use yourself when in the clinical setting or in OSCEs.

There are ways of getting involved during a clinic, but these often require you to be a little bit proactive. Here are some of the things I’ve found useful in the past:

• • Make notes during consultations and discuss the cases with the doctor you’re sitting in with
  • Ask the doctor if you can take over for part of the consultation: you can take a history or you can examine the patient (if appropriate) – both of these are great ways of getting a Supervised Learning Event (SLE)
  • My favourite option (not always possible): if there are spare rooms in your clinic, ask if you can see some patients on your own, and then present them to the doctor. This is very good practice for your own communication skills.

 

 

Would spending more time on the ward not be a better use of my time?

Doctors work in both inpatient and outpatient settings, and seeing how they adapt their skills to these is often useful. There are a few other things that outpatient clinics can provide that the busy wards cannot:

• Exposure to patients with chronic conditions that are well maintained
• A one-on-one (or more realistically a one-on-two) teaching opportunity with a specialist where you can ask as many questions as you please
• Exposure to patients with some conditions that you don’t normally see on the wards – a good example of this would be the multiple sclerosis clinic, or alternatively a cardiology clinic where you can hear and practice identifying lots of murmurs!

You’ve convinced me! Do I need to prep for my clinic?

Pre-reading for a clinic isn’t essential but it will definitely make you feel like you somewhat understand what is going on! Try and read up on how to do the appropriate examinations, and maybe some of the diseases you may see – other than that, put on your keen hat and be nice to everyone! When you arrive, remember to wait outside the clinic room if there is a patient in with the doctor – once the patient leaves, knock and introduce yourself to the doctor. If you’re lost or can’t find the doctor, ask the reception staff, they’re always happy to help.

SUMMARY

So there’s my perspective on why outpatient clinics are great learning opportunities! I will put the disclaimer that not all clinics are created equal; some may be busier than others, meaning doctors have less time to teach you, so try find the ones that help you maximise your own learning. To summarise, these are some things you may want to do during your clinics:

1. If you’re feeling very nervous – take notes during consultations and ask the doctor questions between patients.
2. If you’re feeling a bit more confident – ask the doctor if you can examine some patients and/or take a history and use this to get an SLE
3. If you’re feeling super confident – ask if there are any spare clinic rooms for you to go and clerk patients so you can later present to the team for practice