Purpose of App Review

To review the applicability and accessibility of the ASCO Flashcards app

Introduction

Cancer cuts across socioeconomic status, countries, families, and all fields of medicine. It is hard to escape cancer, so as a medical practitioner, if you cannot beat it, you might as well know about it.

The ASCO Flashcards app aims to help medical practitioners quickly review and test key oncology topics.

The flashcards and flashcard format are provided by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).

User Interface

When you open the app for the first time, a small orientation to the app is provided.  In the future, you will be able to find this feature in the info section. The home screen provides you several navigation options: Sign-In, Browse Decks, Favorite Decks, and Info.

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Choosing the Browse Decks option brings you to a list of available decks.

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You open a deck by clicking on OPEN or just on the line, bringing you to Deck Details screen.

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If you have not signed into the app, the only deck available is the general oncology sample deck. The app prompts you to sign-in the Browse Decks area, as well as on the home screen. An account can be created for free on the ASCO website. Registration is free, but decks must be purchased from ASCO for $75. Purchasing the current flashcard deck package provides you with 22 decks on various oncologic topics for a total of 200 flashcards.

From the Deck Details screen, you can see the name of the deck, the number of cards in the deck, and your average score for the deck. You can also begin the quiz.

The quiz feature brings you to the flashcards, which are presented in a pre-specified order.  You use side-to-side swipes to turn the flashcard from question to answer and vice versa. Questions are given in multiple formats.

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Once you have looked at the question and the answer, you can choose whether you answered the question correct or wrong/not sure.  Within the question/answer pair, you can flip back and forth. You cannot navigate within the flashcards, nor change the order of the flashcards.

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After finishing a deck, the results page shows you how many cards you got correct and incorrect. You are given the option to retry correct cards, incorrect cards, or the quiz (all cards).

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A graph shows you how many questions you got correct and the left hand portion of the app shows you your performance, the time it took to take the quiz, and whether or not you have improved on the quiz performance. Your overall performance is shown on the Deck Details screen.

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Price

  • Free and not so free. The apps is free, the flashcards are not (37.5 cents per card purchased as a set of 200).

Likes

  • Ability to select decks organized by subject to be quizzed on
  • Ability to track the correctness of your answers, as well as progress over time
  • Ability to retry both correctly and incorrectly answered cards
  • Web-based version also available with purchase

Dislikes

  • Evidence for facts on cards not cited! If this app is meant to educate its users with evidence-based medicine, it does not meet this objective.
  • Not optimized for retina display/iPad
  • Expensive to purchase cards and not all cards may be relevant
  • Unclear if purchase includes flashcards to be developed
  • No link to ASCO website to create account or to purchase deck

Healthcare providers that would benefit from the app

  • Healthcare providers desiring study flashcard type app to review oncology-related topics

Conclusions

  • The ASCO Flashcards app provides a multiformat question forum to review oncologic topics quickly, but do not provide citations for their explanations.
  • The expense of the flashcard set is a high for those in training, but is affordable for practicing oncologists. The apps flashcard format is simple, but effective.
  • There are limited special features. The app is available for the iPad, iPhone, and Android platform.

iMedicalApps recommended?

  • Yes

iTunes Link

Availability on Android: 

Google Play Link

Rating: 2.25
1. User Interface – 3.  Limited features in a simple presentation style.  Easy to maneuver from questions to answers and from flash card to flashcard in predetermined order
2. Multimedia usage – 2.  Multi-formated questions provided, but all word-based questions
3. Price – 1.  Do not forget to read the fine print about the price of the deck.  $75 seems a bit steep for 200 cards that do not provide references for the answers – this is subpar compared to other priced study systems.
4. Real world applicability – 3.  Would likely use around examination time or in down time, but not on a daily basis

Disclaimer:
This post does not establish, nor is it intended to establish, a patient physician relationship with anyone. It does not substitute for professional advice, and does not substitute for an in-person evaluation with your healthcare provider. It does not provide the definitive statement on the subject addressed. Before using these apps please consult with your own physician or healthcare provider as to the apps validity and accuracy as this post is not intended to affirm the validity or accuracy of the apps in question. The app(s) mentioned in this post should not be used without discussing the app first with your healthcare provider.