The Chief Complaint vs KNOW Medicine
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
The Chief Complaint
This emergency medicine guide offers an algorithmic approach to over 50 common complaints. It provides decision support, links to medical resources, and includes a drug guide and calculators. A clinical community forum is also available for collaboration.
- Algorithmic approach to common ER complaints
- Clinical decision support algorithms
- Links to medical resources (PubMed, EM:RAP, etc.)
- Emergency medicine drug guide
- Medical calculators and scores
- ESCAVO Clinical Community forum
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The Chief Complaint app now includes access the new ESCAVO Clinical Community, a forum where clinicians can exchange ideas, ask questions and collaborate on sepsis and other clinical topics. How would you like to walk into the ER confident that you knew what to do, no matter what comes through the door? 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! - Algorithm based approach to the most common emergency medicine complaints - Based on the #1 bestselling emergency medicine clinical guide "The Chief Complaint" - Used by the residents of LA County + USC emergency medicine program, one of the top emergency medicine programs in the world - Color coded by organ system for easy navigation - Exhaustively referenced to the most important studies and articles in emergency medicine (over 400 citations!) with direct links to PubMed abstracts for easy access to original sources - Over 60 high resolution clinical management and decision support algorithms - Direct subject-specific links to EM:RAP, Essentials of Emergency Medicine and theNNT.com for further resources and deeper dives on all subjects - Journal club feature allows you to dive deeper into the evidence basis of your decisions - Peer reviewed by leading physicians in emergency medicine - Important medical calculators and scores commonly used in the ER - Emergency medicine drug guide easily accessible right from the content pages - All content, including treatment algorithms, is built-in, network access is only required for content updates - Automatic content updating keeps app's contents constantly up to date free of charge The Chief Complaint is an invaluable resource for doctors, residents, medical students, nurses and other healthcare professionals working in emergency medicine and other acute care settings. Please send your feedback, questions or bug reports to info@escavo.com, we'd love to hear from you! Reviews: "The Chief Complaint is simply indispensable, carry it with me every shift. Excellent algorithms, concise, practical, clinically relevant explanations citing the current best-evidence for management decisions; without doubt Chief Complaint it is THE pocket Emergency Medicine reference to have with you at the bedside." -Manuel Montano, MD, PGY-3, LAC+USC EM Residency "...is really top notch. I really like how it organizes complaints in a flow pattern type way. This has allowed me to quickly adjust my decision making and makes it actually useful when I feel super pressured at work. The further detail located later has been helpful to one, get some good initial learning in and two, look to the resources cited for more in depth discussion." -David Benaron, UCSD Resident "Chief complaint is AWESOME...I think every single intern in the country should have one of these...SO COOL!" -James Grieme, UCSD Resident "The aptly named Chief Complaint is simply excellent. I really like the way it is laid out by cc and it's concise enough to be useful on a regular basis. I take it with me to every shift and would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a streamlined, functional, real-time guide for working up patients in the ED" -Nick Aldridge, UCSD Resident "... really something totally new in the medical education world. This app does something many have tried to do but few have achieved, which is to create an orienteering guide to the med-ed landscape while launching your thought processes AT THE BEDSIDE when confronted with a new undifferentiated and undiagnosed patient." -William "Billy" Mallon MD, Foreword
KNOW Medicine
This app provides a concise, expanded outline format for internal medicine practitioners on the wards. It focuses on essential high-yield knowledge, pathophysiology, treatment, and pharmacology for deeper understanding and retention. Subscription offers access to the entire collection with yearly updates.
- Expanded outline format
- Organ system pathophysiology
- Detailed treatment sections
- Pharmacology focus
- High-yield knowledge
- Yearly updates
- Website access
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Whether you are just starting your journey, or are an experienced Hospital based practitioner… this concise resource will be your favorite Peripheral brain. Dive into the free Sample Chapters to judge for yourself! Offering a unique expanded outline format, geared toward Students, Residents and Practitioners of Internal Medicine on the wards. A blend of organ system based pathophysiology, including detailed treatment and pharmacology sections with a focus on essential high yield knowledge, allowing for a deeper level of understanding and retention. Subscription gives you access to the entire collection, with comprehensive yearly updates accessible through Apple mobile devices, as well as our website. The website allows for laptop accessibility for times when you may want to review on a larger screen. Read through the many on-line reviews. Prior print and ebook versions were under the title ‘The Consult Manual of Internal Medicine’ being rebranded for this 4th, and never-ending app version This work has been my passion since Residency, and I look forward to sharing it with you! Please Note: - Payment will be charged to App Store account after confirmation of purchase. - Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current subscription period. - Subscriptions can be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to App Store account settings after purchase. - No cancellation of the current subscription is allowed during the active subscription period. For more details, kindly go through the below policies: 1. Terms of Use: https://www.knowmedicine.net/terms-and-condition 2. Privacy Policy: https://www.knowmedicine.net/privacy-policy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: The Chief Complaint at none against KNOW Medicine's 1. The Chief Complaint also leads on ratings volume (649 vs 2) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 15.6). KNOW Medicine's advantage is update cadence (every 2 months vs every 9 months) and rating (5.0 vs 4.8). On price, 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
Both are free to download. KNOW Medicine sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $17.99 per year. The Chief Complaint asks for nothing beyond the download.
KNOW Medicine holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: The Chief Complaint has 649 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two.
The Chief Complaint ships an update every 9 months, KNOW Medicine every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on July 17, 2026 and September 17, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | The Chief Complaint | KNOW Medicine |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (649 ratings) | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 88.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 649 — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 9 months | Every 2 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 11.0 — better | 15.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 157 MB | 93 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Escavo, Inc | KNOW Medicine |
Customer experience
The Chief Complaint
KNOW Medicine
Bugs and requests
The Chief Complaint
Reported bugs
1 issue- App crashes when deleting bookmarks
Requested features
3 requests- iPad landscape orientation support
- Additional drug information in complaint categories
- Expanded content for OB/GYN and toxicology sections
KNOW Medicine
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
The Chief Complaint
No in-app purchases
KNOW Medicine
- Yearly Membership$17.991 Year
Questions
Is The Chief Complaint free?
Is KNOW Medicine free?
Which has better reviews, The Chief Complaint or KNOW Medicine?
Do The Chief Complaint or KNOW Medicine have ads?
Which is updated more often, The Chief Complaint or KNOW Medicine?
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