I surveyed a number of EM physicians on Facebook, Reddit, and in person, asking them their favorite apps to use in the emergency department. This list is a compilation of the replies that I received. Most of the apps are available for both Android and iOS but a handful are exclusive to just one platform. If there are others worth mentioning, please let me know.
Categories
- Clinical Reference
Clinical Reference
WikiEM
Availability – Android and iOS
Price – Free. Offers in-app purchases.
Rating – 4.8 (Android) – 2,168 ratings. 4.8 (iOS) – 4,200 ratings
Description – “WikEM is an online wiki and database of emergency medicine knowledge to assist physicians with their daily practice. The content is continuously updated from WikEM.org allowing for rapid reference of key information. The content is available offline with this mobile application. WikEM is intended for clinicians only and not directly for patients.”
UpToDate
Availability – Android and iOS
Price – Monthly recurring: $58/month; 1 year: $579; 2 year: $989; 3 year: $1299
Rating – 4.4 (Android) – 9,930 ratings. 4.0 (iOS) – 340 ratings
Description – “UpToDate® Anywhere registrants and individual subscribers can answer their clinical questions anytime, anywhere by downloading this App for iOS onto their iPad®, iPhone®, or iPod touch®. UpToDate is the leading clinical decision support resource with evidence-based clinical information – including drug topics and recommendations that clinicians rely on at the point of care.”
QuickEM
Availability – Android and iOS
Price – Free. Certain features cost $2.99 to unlock
Rating – 4.3 (Android) – 187 ratings. 4.3 (iOS) – 20 ratings
Description – “QuickEM is a rapid bedside reference designed by an emergency physician for medical students, interns, residents, and attendings who are working in the emergency department. For those who are new to emergency medicine (medical students, new interns, and rotating interns/residents in other fields), there is an included list of tips, basic overview of trauma, “must know” list of medications, and recommended resources for learning. For experienced clinicians, there are tons of quick reference sections to act as a secondary brain for calculations, decision tools, drug doses, and much more.”
palmEM
Availability – iOS
Price – $19.99
Rating – 4.6 (iOS) – 33 ratings
Description – “palmEM is an all-in-one, rapid and succinct, evidence based emergency medicine quick reference.”
ERres
Availability – iOS
Price – $14.99 (iOS)
Rating – 4.3 (iOS) – 41 ratings
Description – “ERres is an easy-to-navigate bedside tool containing the various medication lists, algorithms, decision rules, clinical policies and core content most often looked up by emergency care providers.”
Pepid
Availability – Android and iOS
Price – $299.95 (1yr), $549.90 (2yr), $774.85 (3yr)
Rating – 4.3 (Android) – 348 ratings. 4.7 (iOS) – 2,900 ratings
Description – “PEPID gives healthcare professionals all the tools they need to treat patients at the scene, en route and/or by the bedside. With just a few taps, access the largest drug database on the market, medical calculators, high-res pill photos, illustrations, and much more!”
5 Minute Emergency Medicine
Availability – iOS
Price – Free to download. Offers in-app purchases. Appears to cost $99.99 to unlock full app.
Rating – 4.6 (iOS) – 171 ratings
Description – “Rosen & Barkin’s 5-Minute Emergency Medicine Consult delivers practical, quick-read information on over 600 medical conditions seen in emergency medicine directly to your smartphone and tablet. Search and browse for answers in concise topics organized to help save valuable time. Written and edited by practicing clinicians, this mobile resource is ideal for confirming accurate diagnoses and beginning treatment in the fast-paced environment seen in urgent and emergent care.”
Visual Dx
Availability – Android and iOS
Price – Complete (1yr) – $399.99, Add DermExpert (1yr) – $99.99. Complete + DermExpert (1yr) $499.99
Rating – 3.9 (Android) – 408 ratings. 4.6 (iOS) – 166 ratings
Description – “VisualDx is the single source for diagnostic clinical decision support. Searchable by symptoms, signs, and patient factors, VisualDx is the fastest path to a customized differential diagnosis. Tens of thousands of images and graphics speed comparison, recognition, and diagnosis. VisualDx is used to validate a diagnosis, access next steps for management and care, and for patient education. The VisualDx decision support and reference tool for physicians includes more than 3000 diagnoses and over 41 000 medical images. REQUIRES a VisualDx subscription.”
DynaMed Plus
Availability – Android and iOS
Price – $399 (1yr)
Rating – 4.6 (Android) – 1,240 ratings. 4.9 (iOS) – 2.,300 ratings
Description – “DynaMed is a clinician-focused tool designed to facilitate efficient and evidence-based patient care. Rigorous and daily review of medical literature by our physician and specialist staff ensures that timely and objective analysis, synthesis and guidance are at our users’ fingertips. Physicians who are “on-the-go” can take advantage of mobile access and continue work without missing a beat, thanks to syncing between desktop and mobile experiences.”
The Chief Complaint
Availability – Android and iOS
Price – Free
Rating – 4.6 (Android) – 295 ratings. 4.8 (iOS) – 524 ratings.
Description – “The Chief Complaint app uses an algorithmic approach to over 50 of the most common complaints encountered in emergency medicine. Never feel lost or overwhelmed again, not knowing what the next step in the work-up is. Not sure what tests to order or if the patient can go home? The Chief Complaint helps you answer all those questions and more!”
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Calculators
MDcalc
Availability – Android and iOS
Price – Free
Rating – 4.9 (Android) – 10,800 ratings. 4.9 (iOS) – 46,600 ratings
Description – “Join the millions of medical professionals who use MDCalc daily to support clinical decision making at the bedside. Since 2005, MDCalc has been the leading medical reference for the most relevant, up-to-date, and widely-used clinical calculators that support evidence-based patient care. Registration is free and takes less than 30 seconds for full, unlimited access..”
QxMD
Availability – Android and iOS
Price – Free
Rating – 4.7 (Android) – 13,100 ratings. 4.8 (iOS) – 4,500 ratings
Description – “Founded by medical professionals, QxMD is dedicated to creating high quality, point-of-care tools for practicing health care professionals. Recognized as a leading developer of free medical software for mobile devices, QxMD develops content in cooperation with expert physicians from their respective fields.”
Mediquations Medical Calculator
Availability – Android and iOS
Price – $4.99
Rating – 4.3 (Android) – 206 ratings. 4.8 (iOS) – 1,600 ratings.
Description – “Mediquations for Android brings over 235 medical calculations and scoring tools to your fingertips with simplicity and elegance. Mediquations is the smart choice for anyone looking for a medical calculator for Android.” (Android version)
“Mediquations is the original, most comprehensive medical calculator on the App Store. Mediquations makes it easy and efficient to get the answers you need. With more than 234 formulas and scoring tools housed in an intuitive interface, Mediquations is the smart choice for anyone looking for a medical calculator for the iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad.” (iOS version)
Drugs
Sanford Guide
Availability – Android and iOS
Price – $39.99/yr
Rating – 4.7 (Android) – 3,580 ratings. 4.4 (iOS) – 2393 ratings
Description – “The Sanford Guide to Antimicrobial Therapy ($29.99/yr In-App subscription) app includes all the information you’ve come to expect from our print guide, with expanded digital-only content and numerous interactive features that make it an indispensable resource for today’s medical professionals. Full text search provides fast access, detailed search results, and highlighted search terms. Intuitive menus provide another way to navigate and see the organization of our extensive content collection. Together with bookmarks and notes, you can access content according to the way you work. Your annual subscription includes ongoing content updates, so you’ll always have access to the latest information.”
Epocrates
Availability – Android and iOS
Price – Epocrates Essentials: $159.99/yr; Epocrates Plus: $174.99/yr
Rating – 4.2 (Android) – 24,844 ratings. 4.6 (iOS) – 3,900 ratings
“Join over 1 million health care professionals worldwide who use Epocrates in the moments of care:
- Drugs – Review essential drug prescribing and safety information, including adult and pediatric dosing, adverse reactions, contraindications, black box warnings, pregnancy and lactation considerations, and more—for thousands of drugs
- Formulary – Access national/regional healthcare insurance formularies for co-pay tiers, quantity limits, step-therapy guidelines, prior authorization requirements, and alternatives
- Interaction Check – Identify clinically significant interactions between brand, generic, or OTC drugs and access actionable recommendations to mitigate potentially harmful effects
- Tables – Use our concise, quick-reference guides to find drug information on a wide range of topics, including ACLS protocols, drug class comparisons, endocarditis prophylaxis, vaccinations, Zika virus, and more!
- Calculators – Quickly access dosing calculators, medical equations, and more tools for easy use at the point of care
- Guidelines – View patient-specific recommendations from our library of evidence-based clinical guidelines—designed to be used in under a minute
- Pill ID – Quickly identify and verify drugs by imprint code, color, shape, or other attributes”
IBM Micromedex Drug Ref
Availability – Android and iOS
Price – Free if you already have an Internet-based subscription to IBM Micromedex. Otherwise, $2.99/yr for the IBM Micromedex Drug Reference Essentials app
Rating – 4.4 (Android) – 1,355 ratings. 2.2 (iOS) – 55 ratings
Description – “IBM Micromedex Drug Ref for Internet Subscribers provides clinical care professionals with on-the-go access to the industry’s most trusted drug information, when and where it’s needed most. Users will find peace of mind knowing the content is backed by the same thorough, unbiased editorial process as all IBM Micromedex®.”
EMRA PressorDex
Availability – iOS
Price – $16.99
Rating – 3.0 (iOS) – 9 ratings
Description – “Newly revised and updated for 2015, PressorDex is a comprehensive therapeutic guide to the myriad of pressors, vasoactive drugs, continuous infusions, and other medications needed to treat the critically ill patient. Written by emergency medicine physicians for emergency medicine physicians, this indispensable app gives you concise tools for choosing the right medication and dosing regimen every time, even during the busiest of shifts.”
EMRA Antibiotic Guide
Availability – Android and iOS
Price – $9.99 per item
Rating – 3.1 (Android) – 31 ratings. 3.6 (iOS) – 31 ratings
Description – “Find the most current antibiotic recommendations based on organ system, diagnosis, or organism; virtually every type of infectious disease is covered. This powerful app includes:
- Dosage Calculator: Get a fast, accurate calculation based on your specific patient
- Universal, predictive search for speedy navigation
- Antibiotic costs
- Choosing Wisely recommendations
- Pregnancy and Pediatric guidance
- Recently FDA-approved drugs”
Lexicomp
Availability – Android and iOS
Price – Essentials package: $119/yr; Professional Package: $179/yr; Premium Package: $799/yr
Rating – 4.3 (Android) – 2,097 ratings. 3.3 (iOS) – 33 ratings
Description – “Lexicomp drug reference on mobile apps are unique in the industry for being as extensive as our online drug reference offerings. No content is abridged. Users can view more than 20 databases, featuring timely, in-depth information on drugs, natural products, interactions, medical calculations and more, whether in the hospital or on-the-go.”
Pill Identifier and Drug List
Availability – Android
Price – Free
Rating – 3.9 (Android) – 736 ratings
Description – “Pill Identifier and Drug List – Patient Care Edition is a FREE tool that helps you identify Brand and Generic drugs by name. This is a Drug Reference Guide that provides information about 60,000 + drugs. The Pill Identifier tool is of great help, it helps identify a medicine by its color shape and imprint. This Pill Finder tool lets you find information about generic and branded drugs in United States.”
Pill Identifier by Drugs.com
Availability – iOS
Price – $0.99
Rating – 3.6 (iOS) – 82 ratings
Description – “The Pill Identifier app is a searchable database which includes more than 24,000 Rx/OTC medications found in the U.S.
Search by imprint, drug name, shape and color. Access a wealth of information, including drug images, description/indication, pregnancy category, CSA schedule, strength and Rx/OTC availability. Connects to Drugs.com for additional information (where available).“
GoodRx
Availability – Android and iOS
Price – Free
Rating – 4.7 (Android) – 168,078 ratings. 4.8 (iOS) – 537,900 ratings
Description – “GoodRx makes comparing prescription drug prices easy. Our app provides current cash and sale prices, coupons and valuable savings tips for thousands of prescriptions at pharmacies near you. GoodRx tells you which pharmacies have drugs for less than $4 per fill, and some where certain prescriptions for free! “
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Pediatrics
Pedistat
Availability – Android and iOS
Price – $4.99
Rating – 4.6 (Android) – 149 ratings. 4.0 (iOS) – 22 ratings
Description – “Pedi-STAT is a rapid reference for RNs, paramedics, physicians and other healthcare professionals caring for pediatric patients in the emergency or critical care environment.
Pedi-STAT features include:
- Rapid results for airway interventions including endotracheal tube sizes, depth, intubation medication dosages, ventilator settings, and sedation
- Cardiac resuscitation data including weight specific dosages for resuscitation medications, cardioversion, and defibrillation
- Access to age and weight specific pediatric equipment including foley catheters, airway management, chest and NG tubes, peripheral and central line sizes, and more
- Seizure medication dosages
- Management of hypoglycemia including age specific dextrose concentrations
- Reference of age specific normal vital signs
- Procedural sedation dosages including single dose meds and infusions, as well as reversal agents
- Calculated pain management medications
- Medical management of allergic reactions and anaphylaxis”
PediQuikCalc
Availability – iOS
Price – $4.99
Rating – 5.0 (iOS) – 20 ratings
Description – “Pedi QuikCalc gives you instant access to weight-based drug dosing, IV fluid rates, and weight conversions. Pedi QuikCalc contains only the information you actually need every day, so you can find it fast. I can’t tell you the last time I needed to calculate the A-a gradient! Additional calculators like an Estimator for weight- and length-for-age, Growth Charts, Weight vs Gestational Age, Bilirubin evaluation, BMI-for-age, Blood Pressure Percentile, Adjusted Mid-Parental Height, and a flexible Dosage Calculator expand on these core functions.”
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Ophthalmology
Eye Handbook (EHB)
Availability – Android and iOS
Price – Free
Rating – 3.8 (Android) – 835 ratings. 4.7 (iOS) – 243 ratings
Description – “Eye Handbook is a diagnostic and treatment reference smartphone app for eye care professionals. It is the most comprehensive app specific to eyecare available on a smartphone. Recently we have added a new EHB profile, EHB directory, and EHB forums. You can now connect with eye care professionals across the world. With EHB forums, you can post pictures and ask questions in a wide variety of categories.“
Eye Emergency Manual
Availability – Android and iOS
Price – Free
Rating – 4.3 (Android) – 123 ratings. 5.0 (iOS) – 1 rating.
Description – “This app is designed for use by all medical, nursing and allied health clinicians in Emergency Departments across New South Wales. It provides a quick and simple guide to recognising important signs and symptoms, and management of common eye emergencies.”
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Ob/Gyn
OB Wheel (Pregnancy Calculator)
Availability – Android
Price – Free.
Rating – 4.6 (Android) – 2,746 ratings
Description – “Multi-function pregnancy calculator.”
Preg Wheel
Availability – iOS
Price – Free
Rating – 4.0 (iOS) – 57 ratings
Description – “Simple and fast pregnancy wheel available for the iPhone, No need to carry a paper wheel.”
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Orthopedics
Ortho Traumapedia
Availability – Android and iOS
Price – $9.99
Rating – 4.5 (Android) – 82 ratings. 3.6 (iOS) – 21 ratings
Description – “Ortho Traumapedia is designed to provide quick access to information important to the treatment of adult skeletal trauma. Based on extensive literature review, Ortho Traumapedia compiles the current standard of care in a high-yield, easy to use format including dozens of original images to help visualize fracture patterns and radiologic findings.”
OrthoFlow
Availability – Android and iOS
Price – $5.99
Rating – 4.9 (iOS) – 14 ratings
Description – “Welcome to OrthoFlow…the orthopaedic specialist in your pocket! This new way of learning is designed to help you diagnose and manage orthopaedic trauma with simple, easy to understand decision ‘Flows’ that quickly guide you to the correct diagnosis and management plan. With hundreds of unique diagrams and illustrations accompanying evidence based, clinically relevant information, OrthoFlow provides the knowledge you need for trauma and orthopaedics.”
Sublux
Availability – Android and iOS
Price – Free
Rating – 4.5 (Android) – 18 ratings. 3.9 (iOS) – 56 ratings.
Description – “Sublux is the radiology app for the rest of us. With our intuitive stepwise approach and gorgeous anatomy overlays, we make X-rays accessible for all medical providers– not just radiologists.. Hundreds of diagnoses, all with sleek overlays highlighting pathology, make it easy to get comfortable with plain films. Each diagnosis has a tailored description with clinical pearls and evidence-based management. Proprietary features allow you to toggle between normal and abnormal X-rays, and optional image annotations mean that you’re never going to be left guessing where the pathology is.”
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Infectious Disease
Infectious Disease Compendium
Availability – Android and iOS
Price – $3.99 (Android), $5.99 (iOS)
Rating – 4.7 (Android) – 75 ratings. 4.5 (iOS) – 42 ratings
Description – “Over 600 pages of information on antibiotics, organisms and diseases. Intended as a quick reference for non-infectious disease practitioners”
CDC STD Tx Guide
Availability – Android and iOS
Price – Free
Rating – 4.8 (Android) – 123 ratings. 4.4 (iOS) – 19 ratings
Description – “The STD Treatment (Tx) Guidelines mobile app serves as a quick reference guide for doctors and related parties on the identification of and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).”
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Toxicology
ACEP Toxicology Antidote App
Availability – iOS
Price – Free
Rating – 5.0 (iOS) – 2 ratings
Description – “The Antidote app is a resource for emergency care providers to have easy access to dosing regimens for a variety of medications and antidotes used for common poisonings encountered in emergency medicine. It is a succinct resource designed for quick access that is essential to emergency care providers. It was created by the Toxicology Section of the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), the world’s largest medical association for emergency medicine specialists.
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Ultrasound
One Minute Ultrasound
Availability – iOS
Price – Free
Rating – 4.0 (iOS) – 9 ratings
Description – “- Efficient 1-Minute Demonstrations
- Full Lectures
- Instant Access to an incredible amount of content
- Videos demonstrate all aspects of the scan, including:
- Hand Position
- Descriptions
- Normal images
- Pathologic images”
SonoSite SonoAccess: Ultrasound Education App
Availability – Android and iOS
Price – Free
Rating – 4.0 (Android) – 380 ratings. 3.0 (iOS) – 6 ratings.
Description – “The SonoAccess™ application is the first interactive mobile learning application from an ultrasound company and is now even more accessible across multiple devices. At the tap of a finger, a portable, on-demand ultrasound training library containing high quality clinical and product instructional videos, case studies, clinical image galleries, and reference guides is available to any medical professional, physician or student. Within the SonoAccess version 2.0, you can customize your user profile to generate a recommended list of content, download any content item for offline access, view the “What’s New” feed to browse through all of the content on the app, and use the search functionality to find the content you want quickly.“
Emergency Medicine Ultrasound
Availability – iOS
Price – $1.99
Rating – 4.5 (iOS) – 25 ratings
Description – “EM Ultrasound is a quick reference and learning tool to aid clinicians with bed-side ultrasound in the emergency department, ICU & primary care settings. This application was developed by a board-certified Emergency Medicine physician.”
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Resuscitation
Code Blue Pro
Availability – Android
Price – $4.99
Rating – 4.0 (Android) – 16 ratings
Description – “Code Blue is a specialized stopwatch application that allows you to record the actions that take place during a cardiopulmonary event. This application was made for medical professionals to keep track of key events during the management of a cardiac arrest.”
Full Code Pro
Availability – iOS
Price – Free
Rating – 3.2 (iOS) – 29 ratings
Description – “The American Heart Association’s Full Code Pro (FCP 3.4) is a free, easy-to-use, mobile app that allows you to quickly document critical interventions during cardiac arrest resuscitation events. This app lets you focus on the patient without sacrificing proper documentation.”
The Difficult Airway App
Availability – iOS
Price – $2.99
Rating – 4.0 (iOS) – 9 ratings
Description – “This app rapidly and easily selects the right drugs for RSI, automatically adjusting for obesity and hemodynamics. Pediatric dosing and equipment selection is a snap using the Broselow-Luten color system or the child’s estimated weight.
Stay out of trouble! The Difficult Airway App™ guides the user quickly and easily through key algorithms, predictors of the difficult airway and the step-by-step approach to RSI taught in The Difficult Airway Course: Emergency™.“
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Education
Figure 1
Availability – Android and iOS
Price – Free
Rating – 4.7 (Android) – 13,354 ratings. 4.8 (iOS) – 1,200 ratings
Description – “Figure 1 gives you free and instant access to thousands of real-world medical cases from healthcare professionals across 185 specialty groups and prominent institutions, including the American Cancer Society, BMJ, Doctors Without Borders, and Mount Sinai Health System. View and discuss cases you may never see in your own practice, expand your clinical knowledge, and access a community of millions of healthcare professionals.”
Resuscitation!
Availability – Android and iOS
Price – Free
Rating – 3.6 (Android) – 1,059 ratings. 4.6 (iOS) – 419 ratings
Description – “Resuscitation! is the award-winning virtual patient simulator that makes learning medicine addictive! Resuscitation gives you a case presentation of a patient who is ill, and you play the role of the health care provider. You are in control and can take a history, perform a physical exam, develop a differential diagnosis and administer therapy to treat the patient’s underlying problem. You can place the patient on a monitor, start IV’s, perform procedures, administer medications, obtain radiology studies, EKGs, and a LOT more.”
EM:RAP for Emergency Medicine
Availability – Android and iOS
Price – Requires a subscription to EM:RAP. Physician – $495/yr. RN/PA/NP – $345/yr. Resident – $195/yr.
Rating – 4.8 (Android) – 480 ratings. 3.4 (iOS) – 60 ratings
Description – “Join over 22,000 of your colleagues and subscribe to the #1 Emergency Medicine show in the world. For over 14 years, Mel Herbert and our team of EM experts have been sharing their “Reviews and Perspectives”, bringing you the most up-to-date and relevant topics in emergency medicine, every month. It’s funny, it’s smart and it’s truly irresistible medical education.”
Miscellaneous
Deployed Medicine
Availability – Android and iOS
Price – Free
Rating – 4.9 (Android) – 82 ratings. 4.1 (iOS) – 27 ratings
Description – “Deployed Medicine is an innovative learning service developed to supplement the medical education and training of U.S. military personnel, although some of the medical content could be broadly applied for use by civilian medical providers. The information contained in this app is designed to serve as a supplementary resource to reinforce prior training, and to help you deliver high quality trauma care in deployed settings.”
M*Modal Mobile Microphone
Availability – Android and iOS
Price – Free
Rating – 3.7 (Android) – 21 ratings. 3.3 (iOS) – 35 ratings
Description – “The M*Modal Fluency Direct™ Mobile Microphone is a mobile application that allows clinicians to dictate using the M*Modal Fluency Direct Desktop Application without the need for a physical microphone attached to the PC. Once the mobile application is paired onetime with a M*Modal Fluency Direct User ID, the user of the application can dictate using M*Modal Fluency Direct running on any physical desktop or virtual device without a need for docking, Bluetooth or physical connections. The Application uses secure data transmission to stream audio from the mobile device directly to M*Modal Fluency Direct running elsewhere. It builds on the same cloud-based M*Modal Speech Understanding™ technology powering all M*Modal solutions, so existing clinician voice profiles can be used easily and instantly for optimal accuracy.”
Nuance PowerMic Mobile
Availability – Android and iOS
Price – Free
Rating – 2.7 (Android) – 140 ratings. 3.1 (iOS) – 50 ratings
Description – “PowerMic Mobile turns your smartphone into a secure wireless microphone for use with Windows-based desktop clinical speech recognition solutions. Optimized for use with Dragon Medical One and Dragon Medical Direct, PowerMic Mobile gives clinicians the freedom to roam from workstation-to-workstation, room-to-room, and location-to-location to complete clinical documentation using their smartphone as a wireless microphone at the desktop.”
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-Efficient MD