Continuing medical education software: a comparative review

Personal microcomputers can be used by physicians for continuing medical education (CME). Advantages of computerized CME include local control over the topic, time, place, and pace of instruction. Computers can be interactive, providing selected information that depends on the desires and needs of the physician. Learners have different preferred styles of receiving information, and computer programs can be written to appeal to a particular style of learning. Three examples of commercial software programs available for CME are reviewed. Cyberlog should appeal to those who like to learn from reading textbooks but also desire simple computer graphics and case simulations to reinforce key concepts. Patient Simulator II is a detailed patient simulation for those who learn best by doing. A subscription to Discotest provides patient management problems, and multiple choice questions (no graphics) based on information in Scientific American Medicine. No one program is suitable for all family physicians.