Comparison

MD on Call vs Petal for Physicians

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
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

Petal for Physicians

This app provides a secure cloud platform for healthcare organizations to manage patient care delivery workflows. It enables real-time orchestration of all aspects of patient care, enhancing efficiency and coordination.

Highlights
  • Data-driven secured cloud platform
  • Real-time workflow orchestration
  • Patient care delivery management
  • Healthcare organization empowerment
Features
Read full description

Petal empowers healthcare organizations with a data-driven secured cloud platform designed to orchestrate all your patient care delivery workflows in real-time.

Screenshots

MD on Call4 screens
Petal for Physicians4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: MD on Call at 78% against Petal for Physicians's 31%. MD on Call also leads on rating (5.0 vs 1.0). Petal for Physicians's advantage is price (Free vs $9.99) and update cadence (every 2 months vs every 4 months). On ads, in-app purchases and device support 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

Petal for Physicians 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 4 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 78% of MD on Call's written reviews are positive against 31% of Petal for Physicians's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

MD on Call ships an update every 4 months, Petal for Physicians every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on November 10, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
MD on Call versus Petal for Physicians: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMD on CallPetal for Physicians
Price$9.99Free — better
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better1.0 (4 ratings)
Positive reviews78.1% of reviews — better31.4% of reviews
Number of ratings14 — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFreemium — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size17 MB50 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperMessil inc.Petal Solutions Inc.

Customer experience

MD on Call

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

Petal for Physicians

All ratings4 ratings
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%
Written reviews51 reviews
Positive31.4%
Neutral5.9%
Negative62.7%

User reviews

MD on Call

From 1 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Handy checklist for on-duty
  • 👍 Useful in ER
  • 👍 Great app design
  • 👍 Packed with useful info
  • 👍 Pragmatic content

Room to improve

  • 👎 Could cover more content
  • 👎 Needs update for iPhone X
  • 👎 Content and references outdated
  • 👎 Needs a refresh
  • 👎 More conditions could be added

Petal for Physicians

From 4 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Useful for hospital integration
  • 👍 Helpful for scheduling
  • 👍 Secure communications
  • 👍 Great tool for practitioners
  • 👍 Very useful across hospital

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent disconnections
  • 🐛 Login always required
  • 🐛 Lost server connection
  • 🐛 App needs constant reinstallation
  • 🐛 Frequent freezing

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

Petal for Physicians

Reported bugs

16 issues
  • Frequent disconnections and server connection loss
  • App freezes and requires restarts
  • Login issues, requires repeated logins
  • App gets stuck on loading screen
  • Marketplace refreshes to the beginning when switching apps
Show 11 more
  • App crashes frequently, especially after updates
  • Unable to log in
  • App doesn't open or requires multiple restarts
  • Password required even when entered
  • Sync issues with calendar after iOS updates
  • App not adapting to iPad orientation (portrait only)
  • Redirects to app from website on iPad
  • Cannot see group calendars after update
  • Update loop preventing login
  • Continuous crashes and banner message not clearing
  • Calendar not reliably loading

Requested features

9 requests
  • Allow account cancellation from app
  • Fix constant refreshing of marketplace
  • Improve iPad orientation support (landscape)
  • Support password managers (1Password, etc.)
  • Support Touch ID and Face ID login
Show 4 more
  • Allow viewing colleague schedules
  • Allow selecting multiple days for availability/unavailability
  • Add ability to see schedules of colleagues
  • Allow landscape view on iPad

In-app purchases

None

MD on Call

No in-app purchases

None

Petal for Physicians

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is MD on Call free?
MD on Call costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Petal for Physicians free?
Petal for Physicians is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, MD on Call or Petal for Physicians?
MD on Call is rated higher. MD on Call averages 5.0 out of 5 from 1 ratings, while Petal for Physicians averages 1.0 from 4 ratings.
Do MD on Call or Petal for Physicians have ads?
Neither MD on Call nor Petal for Physicians shows ads.
Which is updated more often, MD on Call or Petal for Physicians?
MD on Call ships an update every 4 months, and Petal for Physicians every 2 months. Most recently, MD on Call was updated on November 10, 2026 and Petal for Physicians on November 6, 2026.

Other comparisons