Comparison

NEJM Image Challenge vs MGH Nephrology Guide

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

Head to head
About

NEJM Image Challenge

Test and sharpen your diagnostic and visual skills with challenging clinical photos. This app offers detailed images with zoom capabilities and immediate feedback on diagnoses. It's designed for medical professionals to practice anytime, anywhere.

Highlights
  • Challenging clinical photos
  • Zoomable detailed images
  • Immediate diagnostic feedback
  • See how others answered
  • Random image selection
Features
Read full description

The NEJM Image Challenge App brings a popular online feature for medical professionals to the iPhone and iPod Touch. Optimized for viewing on the iPhone and iPod Touch, the NEJM Image Challenge App helps you to test and hone your diagnostic and visual skills anytime, anywhere. Please note: Minimum OS version supported is iOS 7.0. The New England Journal of Medicine is known for its compelling medical graphics and illustrations. The NEJM Image Challenge App randomly selects from over 400 challenging clinical photos published weekly in the NEJM Images in Clinical Medicine series. Choose an image and answer multiple-choice questions. Keep taking the challenge until you get it right and then move on to the next challenge! Features: •Detailed images – zoom in to take a closer look •Get immediate feedback – gain more information about the diagnosis •See how others answered and how many took the challenge •Launch or refresh the app for a new selection of random images Check out NEJM This Week, another NEJM iPhone/iTouch app for medical professionals offering free access to recent articles, and a selection of images, audio and video. ABOUT THE NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) is the most widely read, cited and influential general medical journal in the world and the longest continuously published medical periodical. NEJM is dedicated to bringing physicians the best research and key information at the intersection of biomedical science and clinical practice, and to presenting the information in an understandable and clinically useful format. A career companion, NEJM is a vital, go-to resource for keeping practicing physicians aware of developments of importance to their patients and for training medical students and residents. The New England Journal of Medicine is a publication of NEJM Group, a division of the Massachusetts Medical Society. We welcome your feedback. Please send comments to mobile@nejm.org.

About

MGH Nephrology Guide

A quick reference for diagnosing and managing kidney disease, electrolyte, and acid-base disorders. Developed by MGH experts, it offers over 150 topics with extensive tables, figures, and images. Includes integration with Prime PubMed for literature access and regular content updates.

Highlights
  • 150+ topics in fast-read format
  • 320+ tables, charts, and figures
  • Sections on dialysis and transplantation
  • Regular automatic updates
  • Highlighting and note-taking
  • Prime PubMed integration
  • Keyword search and bookmarking
Features
Read full description

The Nephrology Guide of the Massachusetts General Hospital is an up-to-date, quick reference for the diagnosis and management of patients with acute and chronic kidney disease as well as common electrolyte and acid-base disorders. It was developed for generalists—students, residents, primary care physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants—as well as nephrology fellows, attendings, and dialysis nurses. Over 150 topics are authored by nephrology experts at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and include more than 320 tables, charts, figures, images, and carefully organized lists. Hard to find information such as considerations for special populations (e.g., patients with diabetes, cancer, lupus, HIV) are also included. The Guide is fully integrated with Unbound Medicine’s Prime PubMed allowing users to link from literature references to full citations, abstracts, and full-text journal articles provided by the publisher. With the Guide you can:  * Consult more than 150 topics in bulleted, fast-read format * Review 320+ tables with quick synopses of clinical considerations * Find detailed sections on dialysis and kidney transplantation * Stay current with regular updates delivered automatically  * Highlight and make custom notes within topics * Link to the primary literature using Prime PubMed * Search by specific keywords to find topics fast * Bookmark 'Favorites' and organize them using popular tagging feature  Purchase includes a 1-year subscription with regular content updates. Your Nephrology Guide of the Massachusetts General Hospital subscription automatically renews at the current rate of $49.99 unless auto-renew is turned off 24 hours prior to the conclusion of your current 1-year period, which can be done in account settings. This will ensure you receive all updates for the following year. Should you choose not to renew, you will be able to continue to use the content however will not receive updates. Editor: Eliot Heher, MD, Medical Director, MGH Kidney Transplant Program Powered by: Unbound Medicine Unbound Privacy Policy: www.unboundmedicine.com/privacy Unbound Terms of Use: https://www.unboundmedicine.com/end_user_license_agreement

Screenshots

NEJM Image Challenge3 screens
MGH Nephrology Guide4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: MGH Nephrology Guide at Free against NEJM Image Challenge's $9.99. MGH Nephrology Guide also leads on update cadence (every 6 months vs every 16 months) and ratings volume (27 vs 9). NEJM Image Challenge's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and iOS requirement (8.0 vs 15.0). On rating, review sentiment, ads 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

MGH Nephrology Guide is free to download; NEJM Image Challenge costs $9.99 up front. MGH Nephrology Guide sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $49.99 per year. NEJM Image Challenge asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for NEJM Image Challenge against 4.7 for MGH Nephrology Guide. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 9 and 27 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 50% and 50% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

NEJM Image Challenge ships an update every 16 months, MGH Nephrology Guide every 6 months. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 2, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
NEJM Image Challenge versus MGH Nephrology Guide: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNEJM Image ChallengeMGH Nephrology Guide
Price$9.99Free — better
Rating4.8 (9 ratings) — better4.7 (27 ratings)
Positive reviews50.0% of reviews50.0% of reviews
Number of ratings927 — better
Update frequencyEvery 16 monthsEvery 6 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaid — betterSubscription
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS8.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size5 MB10 MB
Age rating17+17+
DeveloperThe New England Journal of MedicineUnbound Medicine, Inc.

Customer experience

NEJM Image Challenge

All ratings9 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews16 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral12.5%
Negative37.5%

MGH Nephrology Guide

All ratings27 ratings
Positive92.6%
Neutral0.0%
Negative7.4%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%

In-app purchases

None

NEJM Image Challenge

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

MGH Nephrology Guide

Subscriptions1
  • MGH Nephrology Guide$49.991 Year

Questions

Is NEJM Image Challenge free?
NEJM Image Challenge costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is MGH Nephrology Guide free?
MGH Nephrology Guide is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, NEJM Image Challenge or MGH Nephrology Guide?
NEJM Image Challenge is rated higher. NEJM Image Challenge averages 4.8 out of 5 from 9 ratings, while MGH Nephrology Guide averages 4.7 from 27 ratings.
Do NEJM Image Challenge or MGH Nephrology Guide have ads?
Neither NEJM Image Challenge nor MGH Nephrology Guide shows ads.
Which is updated more often, NEJM Image Challenge or MGH Nephrology Guide?
NEJM Image Challenge ships an update every 16 months, and MGH Nephrology Guide every 6 months. Most recently, NEJM Image Challenge was updated on November 6, 2026 and MGH Nephrology Guide on November 2, 2026.

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