Course Support: Emergency Medicine Clerkship: Emergency Medicine

“Those who fail to plan, plan to fail…” is a good adage for students entering the emergency medicine setting. As you interact in this clerkship you will find that you need information to proceed with patient care. Often this will involve two major issues: medicine dosages and knowing the correct order, context, and elements for clinical management.

Below are some tips and suggestions that will make your life and learning easier as you work your way through this clerkship.

First, start off by examining the list of apps below. You should also ask others, such as your classmates and doctors in the clinical setting, what apps they use and why.

Once you identify a group of apps you feel will help, make sure you know how they work before using them in the clinical setting.

• How do you navigate within the app?
• What are the apps strengths and weaknesses?
• What kind of information does the app have (disease management, dosages, calculators, etc…)?
• What kind of search do you need to do to find the information you need?

Going over these details will be extremely helpful when you reach the point that you really need to use an app to access information. If you think you can go into a simulation or the clinical floor and just “wing it” or find the information by searching Google, you are wrong! Using that kind of strategy is dangerous and will inevitably waste valuable time.

Other consideration you may want to think of when selecting apps…

Do you need an internet connection?

• Not everywhere has reliable WIFI, so selecting apps that are internet independent can relieve you of this problem. If you are in a particularly problematic setting for internet connectivity, then consider using paper-based sources, such as handbooks or quick-notes.

Is the app’s information up to date?

• Many apps will require that you periodically update content. If your app of choice is like this, make sure that you (when you have a free moment and an internet connection) update the information within the app as regularly as possible.

Try the app out.

• When you hear about clinical cases or recall ones that you have recently faced, try to use the app to see if you can quickly and accurately find the information. One great strategy for testing an app is to use them when you are observing others in simulation cases. Can you find the information that is needed? Doing this will help you learn about the case, but also become more familiar with your group of selected apps.