The medical app business is booming, and you should definitely take advantage of it! As a PA student or PA-C, this means there are plenty of apps you can use to quickly retrieve an abundance of information and have it all right at your fingertips.
While apps for PA students and PA-Cs shouldn’t replace your clinical judgment (and you shouldn’t rely solely on them to make a patient care decision), these apps are a huge resource for working providers or students to reference.
Let’s have a look at some that can make you a better and more effective PA. Here are eight of our faves you can use to take things to the next level!
Epocrates is a great medication app. It provides dosing references for each indication of the drug. It also lists any contraindications or adverse reactions that can be expected. The app even provides pediatric and renal dosing, as well as considerations regarding pregnancy.
You’re also able to create a list of medications and run an interaction check on them. This is very helpful to ensure the combination of medications you’re providing your patients is safe and you aren’t overlooking any potentially harmful combinations.
There’s both a free and paid version of this app. I used the free version throughout PA school and still reference it frequently today. The subscription portion allows you to have further access to portions of the website where you can look up disease processes and quickly have access to current treatment recommendations, including medication dosing.
This app includes nearly any grading scale or calculator you need to aid in your clinical decision-making. Examples include popular grading scales like heart score and PERC criteria, as well as useful calculators like fractional excretion of sodium and anion gap. The app allows you to quickly fill in the question prompts and provides you with the results.
Not only does this application provide the calculators, but it informs clinicians of when it’s best to use them. Furthermore, recommendations for the next steps of patient care are provided. I use this app all of the time when managing critical care patients, but no matter your specialty, I’m sure you’ll find it useful!
UpToDate requires a subscription that many healthcare systems (and some PA programs) will pay for.It’s a one-stop shop for all of your medical questions. As the name suggests, they’re constantly updating their content! This gives you a reliable resource to reference for first-line diagnosis, treatment, and prevention.
Unlike some of the other apps, you may need to do some searching and reading to find exactly what you’re looking for, but the time spent reading and reviewing material will also earn you some Category 1 Continuing Medical Education (CME) credits! I often use UpToDate while practicing, and I love looking at and logging all the CME I earned every year.
Speaking of CME, the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA) has an app!
While this app doesn’t have any reference materials at your fingertips, it’s very useful for logging your CME. It also helps providers easily stay on top of their accreditation to ensure they don’t fall behind.
We would be remiss not to mention the Blueprint PA Prep app for iOS! This free app helps you access your Qbanks on-the-go from pre-PA through didactic year, rotation exams, the PANCE/PANRE, and beyond! Plus, if you’re enrolled in the PANCE or PANRE Live Review Courses, you’ll also be able to access your course assessments and exams.
No matter where you are in your PA journey, this app allows you to prep for your upcoming exam anywhere, anytime!
Complete Anatomy offers exactly what the name implies: a complete human anatomy reference at your fingertips. I used it throughout PA school when studying anatomy and physiology topics. It’s especially useful for visual learners. I could also see it being useful for PAs practicing in certain specialties like orthopedics, surgery, and emergency medicine, where quick anatomic references will definitely be useful.
There are many other anatomy apps in the market, such as the popular Gray’s Anatomy application. While Complete Anatomy is the one I’ve primarily used, I recommend doing some browsing!
This app identifies tests and screenings patients should qualify for and is most useful in the primary care setting. After entering a patient’s age, sex, and behavioral characteristics, the recommended preventive health services will be listed.
It’ll also grade the recommendations from A (high to moderate net benefit) to D (harm outweighs benefits). By using the app, the clinician is reassured they’re practicing primary prevention for their patients.
You may be wondering what an app used for streaming music has to do with medicine. Well, throughout PA school, I listened to podcasts to supplement my studying and optimize my time. This was particularly useful during clinical year, when I could make the most of the drive time by listening to PANCE review podcasts. My favorites were “Cram the PANCE” and “Physician Assistant Exam Review,” although there are many more available now.
Of course, Spotify isn’t the only app where you can find these podcasts. Whether you’re studying for the PANCE, transitioning specialties, or simply want to stay updated on the medical world, there’s a podcast for you! The podcast business is thriving, so take advantage of it.
If you’re looking for timed study playlists to listen to while prepping for your PA exams, you can check out Blueprint Prep on Spotify!
Our favorite is the 3-Hour Deep Work study playlist with orchestral movie soundtracks to keep you focused:
Final Thoughts
These apps can definitely up your game! Try them out to see which ones you like. But not even the best apps for PA students and PA-Cs are a substitution for what matters most: you!
Always remember that, and you can use these apps the way they were intended: to help you be the best student or PA you can be. In this profession, what matters most is hard work and caring about your patients. And in the end, despite what technology has to offer, there’s no app for those things!
Looking for more (free!) content to help you along your PA journey? Check out these other posts on the blog:
Hello! My name is Olivia Vahlsing, and I am a Physician Assistant currently practicing in Cardiothoracic Surgery at Cleveland Clinic. I graduated from PA school at Seton Hill University in 2021. Following this, I went on to a 6-month Hospital Medicine/ICU fellowship. I am also working for Blueprint Prep as a Physician Assistant tutor, and I would love to further help you be successful in your studies! I am very passionate about furthering the PA profession and education and helping new graduates find their own passions and success.
Blueprint PA is the leading Qbank provider for PA programs across the United States. Whether
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