Infectious Diseases Resources for the iPhone

Modern technology has revolutionized the clinician's ability to have vast information resources available literally at one's fingertips. The advent of the smartphone--an integration of the mobile phone with an ultraportable computer, web browser, multimedia player, and camera, has given clinicians the capability to merge their information and communication resources into one compact handheld instrument. Apple's iPhone, and its sister device, the iPod touch, with a combined customer base of more than 50 million users and more than 100,000 downloadable applications, are now the leading handheld platforms for medical personnel to access personal information, medical reference, clinical data, and medically oriented "apps" on the go. The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of some of the diverse infectious diseases-oriented resources available to the iPhone/iPod touch user.