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Tana Henley, a Kent State University nursing student, has developed a medical crossword app to help students in any healthcare field learn and brush up on medical terms.
Kent State Student Develops Medical Terminology Crossword Application

Kent State Student Develops Medical Terminology Crossword Application

Bryan Webb | 09/23/2013
What do you get when you cross a passion for crossword puzzles with a student enrolled in the accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing program at Kent State University? You get a medical terminology crossword puzzle app on your favorite iOS device.

Having already earned a Bachelor of Science degree in exercise physiology from Kent State, Tana Henley, a nursing student, developed a jargon-filled digital crossword to give any student in any healthcare field, and anyone else interested in the medical field, a new way to learn and brush up on medical terms. The app, available in Apple’s App Store, is titled MediCross and comes equipped with more than 100 total crossword puzzles.

“It’s beneficial if you’re trying to learn or study, but it’s also fun if you’re just in the medical field and you know what the terms are,” Henley said.

Henley developed the app because she loves crossword puzzles and wanted something that was more focused toward people who are in the medical field. The app, which launched on Aug. 29, goes for $4.99 in Apple’s App Store and is coming to Google’s Android Market soon.

The app’s conception was the result of Henley discussing the idea with a client at the gym where she works. Her client had Henley pitch the idea to some programmers and, in response, a private investor funded and developed the app with her.

Henley says she’s been around the medical field ever since getting her first degree, but the experience she has gained through nursing clinicals and from the business classes at Kent State prepared her to take on this project.

“It’s different from other crossword puzzles because it just has to do with medical terms,” Henley said. “It’s broken down into different sections of medical terminology, so there’s a prefix section, a root section, a suffix section and then the words themselves are a section.”

Henley believes the app will help other students in the medical field keep up with medical terminology and knowledge.

In addition to creating MediCross, Henley also created her own company called Smartify LLC. Smartify LLC is a company designed to inspire education through unique and interesting learning tools.

“We do have a few more ideas for a couple more apps,” Henley said. “We’re going to be launching those within the next year or two.”

For more information about Henley’s company, visit www.mysmartify.com or contact Henley at thenley1@kent.edu.