With the rise of the iPhone and the creation of hundreds of thousands of iPhone applications, it's only natural that several wonderful apps have appeared to help you stay healthy.

If you’re a physician, medical student, or in any other health care related field, or a health counscious person and trying to find the best free medical apps for the iPhone, here is a quick look at top 10 FREE health applications, in no particular order, to help you choose the right ones for you.

1.  MedScape Mobile
   This app always had a great drug reference section, with over 6,000 generic, brand, and OTC drugs, along with a drug interaction checker.  But with recent updates, Medscape now has a Diseases and Conditions section, along with a Clinical Procedures section.  These added sections aren’t just fluff, they actually contain concise and useful information, with videos and pictures to boot.  We plan on doing a full review in the near future.
2. WebMD Mobile
   This is a free app, which helps patients to diagnose their condition, using a symptom checker. You simply enter your symptoms and the app gives you a diagnosis. There is also a first aid section, which covers everything from minor cuts to heart attacks. The app also offers information about suitable treatments.
3. Epocrates
   
   The free version of Medscape might be ranked higher on our list, and in the App Store, but I guarantee almost every medical professional still has at least the free version of Epocrates.  My peers and I often joke about how Epocrates is the “most trusted name in Medicine” – because it’s the one app med schools and medical institutions aren’t afraid of pushing.  We recently did a full review of Epocrates.
4. iRadiology
   This app is a must download if you’re a resident or a medical student.  Even if you’re not in that category, you might want to download this app just for fun. iRadiology has a catalog of over 500 radiology cases designed to help medical students and residents improve their plain film, CT, and MRI reading skills.  We did a full review of this app recently.
5. MedPage Today Mobile
   What’s not to like about MedPage Today?  The website is a fantastic resource for medical professionals, and a lot of the content is in partnership with the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine – further securing its academic credentials.  Their motto is, “Putting Breaking Medical News Into Practice”, and this app helps you with this cause via mobile access.
6. iFirstAid Lite
   This is a fantastic application that could potentially help you save someone’s life. This app functions as a pocket first aid guide, containing information on everything from how to treat burns, to how to administer CPR. Additionally, if it’s a situation that requires immediate professional help, iFirstAid has a storage of a large number of emergency phone numbers from all around the world. You could potentially be in a different country and find the number to the closest fire station on your very own iPhone. Now that’s safety!
7. iRx
   With the huge amount of pharmaceutical drugs that are on the market today, it can be challenging to get the right information about each drug. iRx allows users to directly access the FDA’s information for a specific drug. You can view side-effects, warnings, and many other useful facts about a drug. This app is useful for both patients and doctors alike.
8. Natural Cures
   For those who may be skeptical of medical professions, or those who simply hate dealing with health insurance companies, this app may be useful. This application provides users with a wide variety of natural treatments for many common medical illnesses. Of course, you should use this at your own risk, and I’d still recommend seeing a doctor if something seems terribly serious. However, it’s nice to know you have alternatives.
9. Medical Radio
   This is a product of ReachMD, probably most famous for its XM Satellite Radio broadcast feeds  (XM 160) of medical information – and these feeds are available live through this app.  MedicalRadio allows you to keep up to date with changing clinical guidelines, and I’ve found the medical talks to be informative and useful.
10. MedCalc
    The most popular free medical calculator in the App Store. There’s not much to say about it, other than it’s created by physicians who are dedicated to keeping it as a free resource for medical professionals.  Also, don’t forget Epocrates Rx (free) has a great medical calculator built.