Interesting apps for the purpose of medical or scientific education

These past months have been extraordinarily complicated, work is pilling up, so are responsibilities, and my personal projects/hobbies have ALL had to be postponed to make ends meet. Nevertheless, I take this blog as an educational tool that actively works for myself and the readers who send me questions on different matters. My self-education is a matter that I take too seriously as this helps me on my personal evolution and my professional progression. Regardless of how employers see it, I will always thrive and take pride as being constantly seeking knowledge to support my professional awareness and for my own intellectual feeding up. I am sure this is what will always keep me up-to-date with new technologies, new approaches and new visions, as this world is in constant mutation and one MUST keep in tune with the new languages. 

Because online courses are often very expensive and lengthy, I recently took a different route. My approach is now quite straightforward and dynamic. To keep myself not only adequately informed , but also conscientious that I am using modern sources of information, I am nowadays resorting a lot to Android apps. I have found quite a few that are a disgrace, deserve no respect whatsoever and reflect how greedy the educational market has turned into. But some are quite impressive in terms of content, in terms of interfaces, in terms of language, in terms of simplicity and finally in terms of its educational acumen.

I'll try, now and then, to look into some of the applications that are out there from a user's perspective, and criticise it with keen eyes and day-to-day criticism. Today, I'll start this 'review exercise' with 3 apps that I recently came across with.

App: Medical Quiz (by Flaticon)

Content: Nine in-depth clinical topics, from general pathology to organ pathology, radiology lab diagnostics, biology anatomy, hygiene infectiology, neurology, nutritional science, pharmacology and ophthalmology.

Interface: Simple, sometimes resembling Visual Basic of the 90's, but its simplicity does not compromise the experience.

Language: You need to be experienced in medical science to understand most of the questions. Definitely not for the average aspiring curious, hence I Love It. Don't use it if you think 'Polysynaptic Reflexes' is a song by Muse!

Accessibility: Free of charge with little ads that can be easily ignored. But please, if someone went through the trouble of preparing this tool for your enjoyment, at least acknowledge them with a decent review or watch the ads now and then.

Educational value: Great for aspiring medical professionals, but could be extremely uninspiring and difficult for those who are looking for educational entertainment.
Play store ratings: 4.6, 39 reviews, 10K+ downloads.

App: Science Quiz (by Smart Quiz Apps)

Content: I am basically addicted to this game to the point where I must play it daily and try to beat my previous scores. Two types of game possible: Endless Mode and Time Mode with slightly different nervousness levels associated to the fact that for the former you have limited lives, but all the time in the world to answer the different questions, and for the latter you can make as many mistakes as you want but you have a defined time to deliver as many correct answers as you can. 

Interface: Colourful without being too infantile, simple but attractive. I like the fact that there's a blueish pallet square pattern that sets the background to an harmonious visual experience.

Language: General science knowledge that can sometimes be hard but never put you off! It is genuinely a great experience for learning as the questions are direct, meaning either you know it or not. The leader board is of easy understanding and the game rules couldn't be easier.

Accessibility: Free of charge but the number of ads that are attached to this gaming experience can drive you nuts. Now and then another and another and another add in between games and from the main panel will be a bit too much for those who are trying to genuinely enjoy the learning experience.

Educational value: Great for parties, great for when you are on your own, tremendously interesting information as science trivia, but nothing too fancy for professional development or the like.
Play store ratings: 4.3, 635 reviews, 50K+ downloads.

App: Nursing Exam Quiz Pharmacology Terms (by Speed Draw)

Content: I am by no means prepared to confidently state that the content of this course is in agreement with what nursing students do in fact learn at uni, so I'll blindly trust the developers in this case. However, I tried this app a number of times and I learned some stuff about they're degree (not so much on what I already knew about Pharmacology), nevertheless some of the answers provided as correct in the quiz I don't immediately agree with, so I'd take it with a pinch of salt.

Interface: Could it be more boring? Only if you could find a sloth singing the original lyrics of the Hallelujah poem by Leonard Cohen. Maroon, Brownish colors that can make your eyes tired very quickly are the immediate reason, but the lack of interactivity is also to blame.

Language: It is what it is... a quiz. A limited one where if you learn anything it's already fulfilling its educational value, but this app is not challenging nor promising.

Accessibility: Free of charge, a tiny rectangular add area on the bottom of the screen ? Not that bad, I'd say.

Educational value: Even for those who are to take a Pharmacology exam as part of their nursing degree, going through the same 25 or so questions over and over again will dismay any student. Nice first attempt but this app needs immediate developing if it is to survive a growing competition in the educational games/serious games industry. I don't think they had that initiative as it appears to me the developers were just trying to have a go at a alpha- beta- version for their own amusement.
Play store ratings: No reviews yet.

And that's it, next time I'll post a few more I am currently trying and if you have any requests or ideas for review on educational and serious digital games, please let me know!

Post Image - Photo by Rob Hampson on Unsplash