Images in Rheumatology: a multimedia program for medical education

In recent years, undergraduate medical education has benefited from the use of computer-based instructional programs. However, in the case of clinical and postgraduate medical education there is a scarcity of such programs, particularly those with access to high-resolution images. Having a fundamental knowledge base of disease-associated images is crucial for the physicians during the diagnostic process. To fill this gap in clinical instruction in the rheumatic diseases, Images in Rheumatology was developed. By using a hypertext format, one may select representative color images of a clinical disease or view x-ray changes typical for one of the rheumatic disorders. In addition, for each displayed image there is an associated sound-bite which explains in detail what abnormalities are present and how the user may differentiate the disease being viewed from other illnesses. An extensive review element is also included so that one can assess their fundamental knowledge of rheumatologic images. The Images in Rheumatology program has been implemented in the DOS (IBM Microchannel). and Windows environments.