By: Manoj M. Lalu MD, PhD
A plethora of review apps exist for our colleagues in internal medicine, but in anesthesiology, this category is just beginning to develop. 10th Hour Anesthesiology Review, an app developed by Dr. Avinish B. Kumar from the University of Iowa, is a somewhat pricey but nice addition to this category. Dr. Kumar has put together a series of approximately 200 flash cards covering topics usually seen on written and oral anesthesia exams.
Main menu of 10th Hour Anesthesiology Review
Following the opening screen, the user is brought to the main menu. The “Browse Concepts” button allows you to go through cards randomly.
A study card in ”Browse Concepts” mode
The “Search Concepts” mode takes you to an index where you can select a particular card to review.
Index in “Search Concepts” mode
The real strength of 10th Hour Anesthesiology Review, however, can be found in “Study Concepts” mode. In this mode you will be presented a number of new cards per day to study (you can decide between 10, 25, or 50 per day).
Settings to select how many cards to review per day
You are allowed to review these cards at your own pace. After you are done studying you can then go about your regular OR day! The next day, when you return to the app, you will be presented with the same set of cards again. As you swipe through each card you can self-evaluate and grade your ability to recall the information from “A” to “F”.
Grading yourself for each study card
Grading yourself poorly makes the card appear again sooner (days) whereas grading yourself well makes the card appear again later (weeks). Following this assessment, a series of new cards is presented for you to review and memorize. Memorization of each card is tracked by filling of circles (red to green).
Starting to fill with red: the ‘Congenital diaphragmatic hernia embryology’ card has been reviewed once
Overall, this app has a nice setup and I enjoyed the self-evaluation aspect. The information in the cards is succinct and hits on key points for each concept. Dr. Kumar also provides references for each card, allowing the user to potentially seek out more information if they choose.
There were, however, several aspects of this app that left me wanting. First, the selling price of $19.99 is rather steep. Although there are approximately 200 cards I would certainly expect more for this price. Second, given the price, I was hoping that user notes could be added to each card. What would certainly make the cost worthwhile would be the ability to create your own cards for review in the app interface. Hopefully, future updates to this app will add more cards and incorporate added features.
In the meantime, a free “Lite” version of the app is also available for users to try and decide whether they would like to buy the complete version.
Likes:
- Self-evaluation method is great
- Cards are concise
- All information is referenced
Dislikes:
- A bit steep with the pricing
- Limited number of cards
- No ability to make your own notes or create your own cards
Conclusion:
- A study card app with a novel interface.
- It would certainly be more widely adopted if the pricing was more competitive.
