All packages run on both Macintosh and Windows platforms, unless otherwise stated. Minimum specifications are a 486 (PC) or 68030 (Mac) processor, 4 MB RAM, 4 MB hard drive space, mouse, SVGA graphics card/monitor and a 2X CD-ROM drive. Additional requirements, the number of disks and any extra items included are noted at the end of each review.

 
Interactive Review of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Year/Version: 1997

Reviewed September 1997
by: Marjorie Lazoff, MD
Emergency Medicine
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Medical Editor
Medical Computing Today
 
Ratings (1=poor, 5=superior)
Content.........................5
Programming.................3
CAI...............................1
Error handling................5
Support.........................4
 
This software includes 80 lecture articles and outlines on office gynecology, primary care and preventive care, reproductive endocrinology and infertility, obstetrics, maternal fetal medicine, gynecologic oncology, and gynecologic pathology as presented at the May 1997 Greater Philadelphia Comprehensive Ob/Gyn Review Course. The course is sponsored annually by a consortium of 16 local hospitals and academic institutions, which guarantees at least several of Philadelphia's top obstetricians and gynecologists will author and lecture. The three-diskette package is distributed free of charge to all course attendees before being offered for sale to the rest of us.
 
Content varies from good to excellent, with a depth and breadth appropriate for Boards review. Included are a number of surprise topics on general medicine, such as adult immunizations, hepatitis, and complementary medicine, but there are also curious exclusions, such as little mention of pelvic inflammatory disease. Surgical techniques and radiographic work-ups are well detailed but the software is totally devoid of multimedia, so in these articles the lack of even simple graphics is strongly felt.
 
All lectures are available from the main menu within eight sections, or directly from the contents icon accessed via the tool bar. One nice feature is its expandable list of subheadings linked to the article. Tables appear within the text, and the vast majority of lectures contain references at the end of the lecture. Folio Views provides the typical interface, including navigation and personalization features and an all-text search engine. The help menu has instructions on how to search notes and highlights. Minor annoyances include a delete button for personalization features hidden within the drop-down menus, and that the blue highlighter appears mid-gray.
 
The biggest disappointment is the absence of any self-test material as promised in the software's introduction. I was informed by the publishers, Corporate Technology Ventures, that this year's Q&As were found to not properly reference a number of the lectures so three days before launch it was decided that, unique to this year, no Q&As would be included.
 
Users will need to decide whether the software's benefits are offset by the complete lack of graphics and self-testing. I think the decision would be easier if the software were accompanied by a pamphlet reprinting the graphic slides, a list of authors' affiliations, a mechanism to inform users prior to purchase regarding this year's disappointment, and a suitable adjustment in price to reflect the limited content.
 
$199; 0 questions; three diskettes; requires 6 MB on hard drive.
 
Source: Lippincott-Raven, 227 East Washington Sq., Philadelphia, PA 19106-3780; 800-777-2295 or 215-238-4200

 
 

of other articles
 
Reviews of other Boards Review Software:

• Introduction and Comparative Chart
• Emergency Medicine
• Family Practice
• Internal Medicine
• Pediatrics
• Psychiatry & Neurology (no product reviewed yet)
• Surgery