Unless you ’ve made the well - tempered determination to come out onBotched , you assume what goes on between you and your Dr. does n’t leave the test room … right ? Turns out , random the great unwashed might be getting an up - close look at your embarrassing roseola and distrust moles , thanks to a innocent app calledFigure 1 .

Basically Instagram for the medical community , doctors station photos of their patients ' weird and gross ailment . The app is barely three years old , has over 1 million drug user in 190 state , and averages about 10,000 user per minute . And according to its latest stats , over 65 % of medical students in North America are exploiter .

One physician ’s assistant we spoke with , who wish to remain anonymous , differentiate us she ’s on the app daily , just slenderly less often than her Instagram feed . She use it to keep up with the late tidings in her field and get a look at interesting pillowcase . What kind of " interesting " cases ? Growths , rashes , broken limb , strange injuries , and all mode of things that have been removed from the body ( tumors , cyst , etc . ) are among the most common posts .

screenshot of figure 1 app on iphone

Courtesy of Figure 1

It’s not just for fun; it helps doctors diagnose unusual cases

frame 1 is n’t just a place where doctors gawp at your riveting malady .   Essentially , it functions like one giant and on-going post - graduate class for practicing ( and soon - to - be ) Doctor , who get to check out all the unhinged stuff their cohorts are working on around the human beings – the sort of amaze cases that do n’t make the schoolbook .

The app permit you " stick with " specific medical field and interest , and doctor chime in with advice on knavish cases . Users can also " page " sure specialized experts when they share a photograph . For exemplar , if you ’re an ER Doctor of the Church with a patient whose X - rays are presenting an strange heart reading , you could page heart surgeon , and it ’ll pink them with an alert to check out your photo . This function alone can finish up being a lifesaver when cope with mysterious ailments , especially if the aesculapian personnel in a give region is limited like , say , on a boat .

You can download it, but only doctors and med students can post

What if a photo of you ends up on the app?

Before you freak out and call your physician , know that if youareon the app , your identity is fully protected . To assert   affected role privacy ,   every pic that ’s uploaded is review by the app ’s squad of moderator to affirm that it does n’t hold back any identifying details ( tattoos , face , location , etc . ) before it ’s write . If it does n’t meet the commendation measure , it does n’t go up – dewy-eyed as that . The app also has some built - in tool – including an robotlike case - blocking agent – that make it gentle for user to blur out details , and if any image is flag for potentially name someone , Figure 1 immediately and " securely " destroys it .

Since patient consent laws differ around the populace ( and even from state to state ) , the app also has a built - in " water tap , type , and sign " consent shape where doctors must first get favorable reception from patient role before take any picture . Theoretically , that means any exposure that end up post to the app are there with the patient role ’s approval .

Voyeurs beware: this stuff ain’t pretty

This app isnotfor people who get queasy around blood . To be honest , doing enquiry for this news report was pretty sicken . The sort of things a medico would find interesting or special is more often than not egregiously ghastly to us laypeople . So , if you ’re not prepared to see gawp tongue wounds to the neck or basketball - sized growths confiscate to narrow-minded limb as your scroll through your feed , maybe stick to charming Instagram # sunsets .

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scrolling through figure 1 app on iphone

Courtesy of Figure 1

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screenshot of figure 1 app

Courtesy of Figure 1