Abstract

"Smartphones" and other mobile devices have become ubiquitous in recent years, but there has not been a concordant increase in medically accurate and instructional medical applications. Many commonly used concepts and algorithms can be readily taught in the form of an iPhone application that helps the user determine the appropriate treatment in difficult, complex and error-prone situations. An iPhone/iPad app was developed to help teach pain management and opioid conversion. The application visually demonstrates the formulas and logic used to perform each calculation. All of the input data is displayed on screen with the output data to reduce the likelihood of user error. A reference section is provided with standard equivalency values. The Opioids app has been a useful tool in teaching opioid conversion to students and trainees at SCVMC. We envision that mobile device applications will be a useful medium for teaching other techniques and concepts in medicine. We think that this application can serve as a model for future medical apps for use by practitioners.