Comparison

MD on Call vs CPS by CPhA

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

MD on Call

This app provides quick, practical guidance for physicians, residents, and medical students to manage common on-call issues. It offers concise tips for acute assessment and management, helping users efficiently address patient problems without needing to consult lengthy textbooks.

Highlights
  • Quick assessment and management tips
  • Covers 26 frequent on-call situations
  • Management of common electrolyte abnormalities
  • ECG interpretation with examples
  • Guidance on writing medical orders
  • Searchable by acronyms and keywords
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

"fantastic for a review when rushing to a consult." -- Casey Park MD on Call is already trusted by thousands of physicians, residents and medical students around the world. We’ve been there; At 3 AM, you don’t feel like going through a textbook or a long UpToDate article; you just want to get things done. **************** REVIEWS "If you have ever needed a quick reference to learn on the fly or been stumped by a late night call while cross-covering and you are willing to spend a few dollars to avoid that feeling, you should consider this app." iMedicalApps.com “It has all those handy little things that drug guides and medical references just don’t capture concisely.” “I would pay at least double the cost for this handy little reference.” Dr Jessica Otte, drottematic blog **************** **************** AUDIENCE junior residents, interns and medical students INTRO In medical school, we learn a lot about diseases and the basis for their management. However, we are traditionally less exposed to apparently easy problems like pain, nausea or hypokalemia. Quite often, those issues are brought to the attention of the nursing staff in the evening. At that time, the treating team is away and you're on call, running all over the hospital. MD on Call gives you tips on how to QUICKLY assess and manage (acutely) common problems so you can go on assessing the next patient, or to your room to get some well deserved sleep. -- it is NOT meant to replace a textbook -- FEATURES MD on call is divided into 5 main sections: • Issues • 26 frequent on call situations (including management of some specific conditions) Abdominal Pain* Acute Coronary Syndrome* Agitation / Violence Anaphylaxis Bleeding Bradycardia* Chest Pain Constipation Death (Pronouncing) Decreased LOC Dysuria / UTI* Dyspnea Fever Febrile neutropenia Headache Hypertension Hypotension Insomnia Meningitis Nausea / Vomiting Pain Palliation Pneumonia Seizure Tachycardia Wound Dehiscence Wound Infection • Labs • Common electrolytes abnormalities (including management) Hypo Ca, K, Mg, Na, PO4, glycemia Hyper Ca, K, Na, glycemia • ECG • Normal and abnormal ECG values, now with examples • Misc • Suggestions on how to write orders for admission, "comfort measures only", "on call" notes, OR and procedure notes. Transfusions: general information and common reactions Misc: CSF values, opioid conversion... • Lines and Tubes • How to manage common problems, such as a blocked NG tube. • Search • Search using acronyms or keywords **************** Feedback is more than welcome : visit the website for more details **************** DISCLAIMER This publication (application) is to be used as a guide only. It is intended only for use by licensed medical practitioners and medical students. Every doctor (or prescriber) is responsible for their actions. This guide is not meant to replace clinical judgment. The authors of MD on call make no claims regarding the accuracy of the information contained herein. The authors of this application and its content shall not be liable for any injury and/or damage to persons or property arising from the use of this application. It is the responsible of the licensed prescriber to verify the indications, contraindications and dosage of the medication (and actions) they prescribe.

About

CPS by CPhA

Access essential, evidence-based drug information for healthcare professionals. Choose between drug monographs or full access with therapeutic guidance and tools. Stay updated with critical warnings and advisories.

Highlights
  • Evidence-based drug monographs
  • Therapeutic information
  • Non-prescription therapy guidance
  • Drug tables and algorithms
  • Medical calculators
  • Critical updates and warnings
Features
Read full description

CPS (formerly RxTx) has a new appearance. CPS is still the reliable, evidence-based drug resource it has always been and provides essential drug information at the point-of-care for health care practitioners. Now offering two subscription options – CPS Drug Information or CPS Full Access. CPS Drug Information is the Canadian standard for drug monographs, containing thousands of products including monographs for drugs, vaccines, natural health products and medical devices, approved by Health Canada. CPS Full Access includes all content from CPS Drug Information and the most current, evidence-based therapeutic information and non-prescription therapy for most common conditions, with cross-referenced drug tables and algorithms and DC condition-based drug tables. Both subscriptions types provide critical updates such as warnings and advisories; and useful tools such as medical calculators.

Screenshots

MD on Call4 screens
CPS by CPhA4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: MD on Call at 78% against CPS by CPhA's 10%. MD on Call also leads on rating (5.0 vs 1.0) and chart position (#145 vs unranked). CPS by CPhA's advantage is price (Free vs $9.99) and iOS requirement (14.2 vs 16.0). On ratings volume, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

CPS by CPhA is free to download; MD on Call costs $9.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

MD on Call holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 1.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 2 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 78% of MD on Call's written reviews are positive against 10% of CPS by CPhA's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and September 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
MD on Call versus CPS by CPhA: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMD on CallCPS by CPhA
Price$9.99Free — better
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better1.0 (2 ratings)
Positive reviews78.1% of reviews — better9.6% of reviews
Number of ratings12 — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 4 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaid — betterSubscription
Best chart rank#145 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.014.2 — better
Further details — not scored
Size17 MB177 MB
Age rating17+17+
DeveloperMessil inc.Canadian Pharmacists Association (CPhA)

Customer experience

MD on Call

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews64 reviews
Positive78.1%
Neutral10.9%
Negative10.9%

CPS by CPhA

All ratings2 ratings
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%
Written reviews52 reviews
Positive9.6%
Neutral7.7%
Negative82.7%

Bugs and requests

MD on Call

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Incompatible with iPhone X
  • Incorrect advice regarding Metaclopramide
  • Incorrect TDF to morphine conversion data

Requested features

16 requests
  • Cover more content
  • Update for iPhone X compatibility
  • Revise content and references for up-to-date information
  • Add more conditions
  • Include common diseases and treatments
Show 11 more
  • Add an 'edit' function to modify and add vignettes
  • Add more clinical scenarios
  • Add medicine dose information
  • Add drug interaction information
  • Include more information with supporting references
  • More streamlined interface
  • Translate to German
  • Translate to French
  • Add more topics
  • Add more clinical high yields and topics
  • Add more futures needed while oncall

CPS by CPhA

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

MD on Call

No in-app purchases

None

CPS by CPhA

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is MD on Call free?
MD on Call costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is CPS by CPhA free?
CPS by CPhA is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, MD on Call or CPS by CPhA?
MD on Call is rated higher. MD on Call averages 5.0 out of 5 from 1 ratings, while CPS by CPhA averages 1.0 from 2 ratings.
Do MD on Call or CPS by CPhA have ads?
Neither MD on Call nor CPS by CPhA shows ads.
Which is updated more often, MD on Call or CPS by CPhA?
MD on Call ships an update every 4 months, and CPS by CPhA every 4 months. Most recently, MD on Call was updated on September 22, 2026 and CPS by CPhA on September 14, 2026.

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