Comparison
Where a student's clinical record should live.
A clerkship system, a general log, a spreadsheet, and Capnolog all hold a version of the same record. They differ on what happens to it at graduation.
Side by side
| Capability | CapnologOne record you keep: rotations, letters, and a summary you export yourself. | Your school's clerkship systemSchool-owned. Access often ends at graduation; check what your school allows. | A general procedure-log appA category, not one product. What it records, and what it keeps, varies by app. | A spreadsheet or notes appWhatever you build in it, for as long as you keep the file somewhere. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rotations and away rotations recorded | Yes. Each rotation keeps its own site, dates, and service. Recording them is all the app does with them. | Partly. Often holds the rotations your school assigns; an away month may sit elsewhere. | Varies. Some record rotations, some only procedures. It varies by app. | Partly. A row per rotation, kept by hand. |
| Letters tracked from ask to uploaded | Yes. Three states you set yourself. Capnolog does not contact a writer or send anything on your behalf. | Varies. Some schools track letter status; what you can see varies. | Varies. Letters usually sit outside what a procedure log holds. | Partly. A column you remember to update. |
| An ERAS-shaped summary you can export | Yes. Assembled from your own record. It is a personal export, not a submission, and it reaches no program. | Varies. What a school system exports, and in what shape, varies. | Varies. Some export a procedure total; the layout varies by app. | No. You would lay it out yourself, in October. |
| The record is still yours after graduation | Yes. It sits on your phone and in your own encrypted iCloud backup. Graduating does not change where it lives. | Varies. Access often ends with the degree; what you may take varies by school. | Varies. Whether the record outlives a subscription varies by app. | Yes. The file is yours as long as you keep it. |
| It carries into residency | Yes. On Match Day you confirm the flip yourself: the student season is archived, and the install becomes a resident install. | Varies. Whether anything moves with you varies by school. | Varies. Some continue into residency; whether ACGME categories are counted varies. | Partly. The file carries; the structure is yours to rebuild. |
| No patient identifiers collected | Yes. Capnolog does not collect names, MRNs, or birthdays. Case data is encrypted on your device. | Varies. A clerkship system may sit inside the hospital record; check what it holds. | Varies. What a form lets you type varies by app; read its privacy policy. | No. A sheet holds whatever gets typed into it. |
| An encrypted backup in your own iCloud | Yes. Backups are encrypted and stored in your iCloud account. Restore them on a new device. | Varies. The backup is the school's to run; ask what happens to yours. | Varies. Where a backup lives, and who holds the key, varies by app. | Partly. Whatever your drive is already doing. |
| What it costs | Yes. Logging and export are free, for as long as Capnolog exists. | Yes. Usually included with your enrollment. | Varies. Some are free and some are a subscription; pricing varies. | Partly. Often already licensed by your school. |
What the marks mean
- Yes
- Partly
- No
- Varies— depends on the product
What to check before you choose
What happens the week you graduate
Ask where the record sits once your school account closes, and whether you can take a full copy with you rather than a summary.
What it holds about a patient
Check what a tool collects about a patient, and what it does with free text you type, before you start filling it in.
Whether an export is a submission
A summary you export is a document you hold and edit. Nothing a log produces is an application, and it is worth confirming that before you rely on it.
Who holds the backup
Ask where a backup is stored and who holds the key. The answer varies by app, and it is the question that decides whether the record survives a lost phone.
Whether it follows you into residency
Residency counts cases against ACGME categories rather than rotations. Ask what a student tool does on the day that starts to matter.
A log is not an application tool
Tools built around the application cycle often solve a different problem from a procedure log, so it is worth being clear which one you are shopping for.
Where Capnolog stands
- iPhone only, and in private betaIn private beta
Capnolog runs on iPhone. There is no Android app and no web app, and the beta is invite-only on TestFlight.
- Recording is all it does with a rotationAvailable
Capnolog records the away rotations you tell it about. It does not find, book, arrange, or approve away rotations, and it is not connected to any program's application system.
- Letters are tracked, never sentAvailable
You set each letter's state yourself, and any brief is one you assembled from your own record. Capnolog does not contact a writer and does not send anything on your behalf.
- The ERAS-shaped summary is a personal exportAvailable
It is a document you read, edit, and use however you like. It is not an ERAS submission, it is not transmitted to ERAS or to any program, and nothing about it is official.
- Logging and export are freeAvailable
Every category, every published minimum, and the whole capture flow cost nothing, for as long as Capnolog exists. Export is a CSV, where your specialty module supports it.
- The layers on top are PremiumIn private beta
Case planning, notes and templates beyond the free allowance, ACGME Case Log form fill, and calendar schedule import are Premium — free during the beta, with launch pricing to be announced.
Join the free beta
Capnolog is in private beta on TestFlight, and the student install is part of it. Logging and export are free and stay free.