Built for the things I kept looking up on rounds.
PocketRounds started as a bunch of notes, diagrams, and references I was making for myself in medical school. At some point I taught myself enough coding to start turning those notes into tools I actually wanted to use. It kind of grew from there.
What the site is
Basically, this is a collection of things I want within reach when I'm working. Cardiology, EKGs, echo, POCUS, inpatient medicine, major trials, guidelines, and probably my favorite part of the site, the clinical calculators.
For a long time almost everything here was just something I made for myself. Then I started sending tools and graphics to co-residents and friends, and they actually used them. So I figured I might as well keep building it and put everything in one place.
How I build it
I still build and maintain PocketRounds myself. I use tools like Codex to help with some of the coding now, especially the repetitive parts, but the ideas usually start with something I wanted while taking care of patients or studying.
A lot of the time goes into figuring out the clinical logic, checking the calculations, finding the best references, and then trying to make everything simple enough that I would actually use it on a busy day.
I make most of the diagrams and graphics too. A surprising amount of this site is just me moving labels around, fixing tiny bugs, redrawing coronary arteries, or realizing something looks awful on my phone and starting over.
Why I keep doing it
Mostly because I still use it all the time and I genuinely enjoy making it. If somebody else finds it useful too, even better.
Lucas Smith, MD