May 1, 2014 (Vol. 34, No. 9)
Rating:
Strong Points: Engaging care studies with many questions
Weak Points: Limited number of case studies
Platform:
iPad/iPhone
Cost:
Free
Summary:
Medical students will enjoy brushing up on their facts with the Microbiology Virtual Patients app by the University of Glasgow School of Medicine. The app’s format is a combination of quiz questions and video game, as the player navigates through a series of 10 microbiology-related case studies across various medical specialties. For each case study, the player is transported to a hospital setting and provided information about his/her patient via the ward nurse. Interspersed with the information are a series of multiple-choice questions testing the player’s medical knowledge. Importantly, each question is accompanied by an explanation of the correct answer, so it can actually be used as a learning tool. The cases are engaging—the only complaint players may have is that there aren’t enough of them.