Journal lists useful ENT apps for residents

Numerous studies have evaluated how useful smartphones and apps are in several different specialties. However, previous research has not evaluated how useful they are in oral and maxillofacial surgery (OMFS). A recent study in the Journal of Maxillofacial Oral Surgery looked at British OMFS trainees to determine how much they use smartphones and mobile apps. The study also reviewed some of the most useful apps for the field.

The study used a survey sent to fellows in training as well as juniors in training, which included house-staff, medical students and dental students. The survey was very basic with 4 questions asking the respondents if they own a smartphone, if they have medical apps on the smartphone, if they use those apps during clinical activities, and which apps they find most useful.

The authors received 89 responses to the survey which corresponded to a 31.7% and 46.8% response rate of both fellows in training and juniors in training, respectively. The results showed that 94.4% of trainees owned a smartphone and of those 60.7% owned an iPhone. Of those with smartphones, 89.3% had downloaded medical apps on their phones and most had 1-5 apps downloaded. The study used a subjective scale to determine how often trainees used the medical apps allowing responses of never, rarely, sometimes, often and always. Most respondents replied with “sometimes,” however, it is difficult to assess what that means to each individual respondent.

The study uses the last question within the survey to create a list of several useful apps for those practicing in the field of OMFS and we have listed some of them below. Remember, these apps are UK centric, but many are also applicable to residents in the United States.

This study shows that OMFS trainees are using medical apps, which is consistent with research within other specialties. However, this study could have included more questions within the survey to gather more information. To truly determine trends in smartphone use within OMFS it would be useful to know exactly how often trainees are using these apps in daily clinical activities, using an objective scale. It would also be useful to see what type of medical apps OMFS trainees are using most often, whether they are educational apps, apps used to help with treatment, etc. Although a preliminary study, there still needs to be more information available to assess the true need and use for smartphones and medical apps in the field of OMFS.

Link: Pubmed

Carey E, Payne KF, Ahmed N, Goodson A. The Benefit of the Smartphone in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery: Smartphone Use Among Maxillofacial Surgery Trainees and iPhone Apps for the Maxillofacial Surgeon. J Maxillofac Oral Surg. 2015;14(2):131-7.

Journal lists useful Oral and Maxillofacial surgery apps for residents

The British National Formulary app

The BNF for Children app

Paeds ED

eLogbook

iDoctor

iResus

iSnellen

AO Surgery Reference

Oxford Handbook of ENT and Head and Neck Surgery

Osiri XD

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