See one, do one, teach one: the traditional medical training paradigm. Although we have now evolved to deliver safer patient care than this, the emphasis on visual-methods for learning has been present from days yonder. SEE one.

With the advent of pocketable teaching tools accessible anytime, anywhere, there runs the risk of delivering substandard visual material.

Phone in your hand, educational opportunity in front of you, hold up your phone vertically, press record, share the video, enhance the world of medical education.

To the undiscerning reader, the key flaw to this workflow may be missed. If you shoot your videos holding your smartphone vertically (also known as portrait mode), the video may occupy the entire smartphone screen and be more comfortable to hold the phone, true, but when that video is shared to those who wish to learn from the video, a slim, tall video with black bars either side will completely distract and potentially miss out on the crucial aspects of video footage that you wish to share. And it is annoying. Very. And what happens when you decide to turn your phone mid-filming to actually capture everything that deserves to be captured? Viewers will need to turn their computer screens/laptops/heads sideways to view the footage i.e. the video is unusable.

This is known as Vertical Video Syndrome (VVS) and has plagued the world for years now, despite a concerted campaign to end it.

Enter Horizon. This iOS-only app should be the new standard way of filming our medical education material. Using the iPhone gyroscope, Horizon will ensure that your videos are always shot in horizontal (landscape) whilst recording, even if you rotate your phone to vertical or anywhere in between. It is a clever use of software and hardware that really should be a standard feature of all smartphones. Until it is, we would encourage all users to film their medical educational material using this app. Or film horizontally. And allow your viewers to actually SEE one before they do one.

Sydney HEMS says ‘No’ to VVS.