At the bottom of the main page of the app, there is an “Add Pearl” icon. Tapping this icon opens another “email message”, but this one is blank. Now it is your turn as the provider to log a practice-changing pearl from a colleague, lecture, journal article, CME, etc., the sky’s the limit. You can elect to check the “Commit to Remember” reminder button or just log your pearls. There is no limit (as far as I could tell) as to how many Personal Pearls you can add to the app. You can also add medical conferences via the “CME/CTI” icon. The app even has a nice simple but effective tutorial.
How to use the app in clinical practice
I find I use the app in various ways. First, I simply read through the pearls in each category. If I am already aware of the evidence or practicing in this fashion, I simply skip to the next pearl. If it is practice-changing for me, I click the Commit to Remember button and periodically receive email reminders of that particular pearl.
Next, I periodically open the app and click the “New Pearls” text at the upper corner of the app. When new pearls are added you can read them there and decide if you want to Commit to Remember or skip them if you already know them. Finally, I log my own pearls. This usually occurs while I am at a medical conference or in grand rounds or journal club. Granted many of us have a system already for pearls. Some use Evernote to jot down notes like a virtual “peripheral brain” or add practice-changing articles to our reading list in an app such as Read or Docphin, but none of these have a built-in Commit to Improve system like the one in Med Pearls.
Evidence based medicine
The app is a unique example of an evidence-based medicine app that enhances lifelong learning through an email reminder system. The app clearly displays the sources of the data cited and includes links to the PubMed abstracts.
What providers would benefit from this App?
Residents, mid-levels, Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, any provider in primary care.
- Price
- Free to download, has a $1.99 a year subscription ($0.16 cents a month -- not bad)
- Likes
- Intuitive interface with pearls categorized logically.
- Commit to improve process to email reminders to enhance retention.
- Ability to create and share personal pearls.
- Dislikes
- Interface pretty basic and description of pearls a bit too succinct.
- Not a particularly large number of pearls when compared to the POEM database from Essential Evidence Plus or similar apps.
- Overall
A must-have app for primary care providers, residents, and students who want to establish lifelong learning skills while keeping up to date.
- Overall Score
- 4.5
- User Interface
Intuitive, but basic interface that could benefit from an update.
- Multimedia Usage
Allows users to Commit to Improve and receive email reminders of pearls they select to remember. Users able to create their own pearls and add them to their database, email them to friends, even post them on Facebook and Twitter.
- Price
- Real World Applicability
Great resource for anyone interested in evidence-based medicine and lifelong learning.
- Device Used For Review
iPhone 6 running iOS 8.1
- Available for DownloadAndroidiPhoneiPad
