An App A Day Keeps The Doctor Away

rmacy apHey guys hope you’re all well, so I know a few of you guys have reached out and have found the last few blogs useful so guess what…. we are gonna do it again! 

In this blog I will be talking about a few apps that I personally have used while on my pre-reg but also while studying for the pre-reg exam. 

Being able to utilise apps as a go to resource, that are: quick, efficient and accurate (just make sure it’s all up to date and you have a solid internet connection) is pivotal in being a successful pharmacist, every single pharmacist I have come across have reached for their phone to check a dose or interaction, it’s becoming more and more common in practice. I have found them useful not only while looking for relevant information and literature but also when showing patients as a visual aid, we are moving into a technological world guys so we should use that technology to help benefit us and make our day to day workings as a pharmacist much easier.

The BNF/BNFc

I mean this is an absolute must, not having this app on your phone is like not having syrup on your pancakes. It’s so important that you have this downloaded. It has a very quick and easy search bar, presented in a coherent manner with links to addition sources or references. 

You will probably look at the BNF even if it’s to check what certain drugs are for, it’s so much easier to just pop it into the search engine and see what comes up. 

It also has an interaction checker which is lifesaver, because trust me guys those OSCE days of having to flick through pages of the BNF just to see what an interaction is are long gone; a very useful aid in discovering drug interactions quickly!

RightBreathe 

I would probably say this is one of the most useful apps I’ve come across in practice. This is a great app to help supplement your learning and your counselling on inhalers. It contains all the relevant and up to date information regarding all available inhalers (so no more getting confused between a brown, blue or pink inhaler). The app contains price information and also ingredients and components of each inhaler, along with videos showing correct patient technique. For healthcare professionals, they contain the relevant treatments regimes for both Asthma and COPD and advised by NICE, SIGN and BTS.

OTC consult

In my previous blog, I talked about how to deal with OTC queries, this is a vital part of being a community pharmacist. Sometimes you may be a bit confused or even just want to double check if your diagnosis is correct. This is where OTC consult comes into play, a great visual app which details over 80 conditions from evidence-based pathways and breaks them down into numerous sections such as: Management strategies, Referral criteria, Clinical features and many more. It is a very handy app to have on your phone!

So, guys there are 3 apps which I would highly recommend downloading and I guarantee you will probably use all of them multiple times during the week. The next blog we will be looking at relevant websites that will be as a pre-reg and when newly qualified. 

The whole point is to ensure that you know where to go for guidance, there’s a range of resources out there that will benefit you in practice it’s just a matter of getting your head around it!