Dear Andrew and all,

This sounds like a great idea. I would like to highlight the information and learning needs of junior doctors in low- and middle-income countries, and to encourage you to "think global".

Many junior doctors in low- and middle-income countries (particularly those working in rural areas) continue to lack access to the information they need to learn, to diagnose and to provide effective care. An increasing number do, however, have smartphones and can connect and download apps when they are in urban areas, for use later offline. I would encourage you to think of their needs when putting together a collection of apps - it would be helpful if doctors could easily see what is right for them - for example, they may need to identify what is useful in relation to the equipment and resources that are available to them, and in what languages the apps are provided other than English.

To discuss these issues, please go to hifa2015.org and click on Join. This will put you in touch with more than 6,000 health professionals, librarians, publishers, researchers worldwide, all working to improve the availability and use of healthcare knowledge in low- and middle-income countries.

Best wishes,
Neil

HIFA2015 profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is the coordinator of the HIFA2015 campaign and co-director of the Global Healthcare Information Network. He is also currently chair of the Dgroups Foundation (www.dgroups.info ), a partnership of 18 international development organisations promoting dialogue for development. He started his career as a hospital doctor in the UK, and has clinical experience as an isolated health worker in rural Ecuador and Peru. For the last 20 years he has been committed to the global challenge of improving the availability and use of relevant, reliable healthcare information for health workers and citizens in low- and middle-income countries. He is particularly interested in the potential of inclusive, interdisciplinary communication platforms to help address global health and international development challenges. He has worked with the World Health Organization, the Wellcome Trust, Medicine Digest and INASP (International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications). He is based near Oxford, UK. www.hifa2015.org [log in to unmask]

At 09:52 21/02/2013, Brown Andrew (RD7) HWPH-TRLibrary Services Development Lead wrote:

Hi all

I'm currently working with our IT dept to create a list of recommended apps, with a focus on Junior Doctors' needs. A lot of work has already been done in this area (e.g. the Countess of Chester list), but we are thinking about taking this a step further and developing an "app store" for Jr Docs.

Has anyone else been involved in developing app stores (for any staff group)? Or are you aware of work having been done in your Trust in this area - including developing "in-house" Apps?

Also, is there any scope for, or interest in, a collaborative approach to developing an App store or creating new apps?

Many thanks

Andrew Brown
Library Service Development Lead
John Jamison Library (WXM)
Heatherwood & Wexham Park Hospitals NHS FT
[log in to unmask] / Tel: 01753 63 4856

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