Fact: An estimated 500 million smartphone users worldwide now rely on health care applications, and by 2018, an estimated 50% smartphone and tablet users will be using health care applications.

Anatomy instruction is a major part of medical training, but the field is currently also in flux. In the past, anatomy was primarily taught with the aid of workbooks and through dissections. Today, dwindling resources combined with increased pressure from the animal rights movement are changing how anatomy is taught. In short, more medical schools are moving from lab to screen to tighten their budgets and respond to critiques from animal rights activists.

As a result, anatomy instruction is also increasingly moving from the classroom to various forms of elearning. After all, if you eliminate the lab and replace textbooks with elearning modules, why hold traditional in-person classes at all? By and large, evidence suggest that while some courses may still be best taught in person, many others can be effectively or more effectively delivered online and even via mobile apps; anatomy instruction appears to fall into the latter category. A study on one of the newest innovations in anatomy education, the 4natomy mobile app, demonstrates why this is the case.