Medical webwatch.

Medical Rounds (www.medicalrounds.com) is a webbased educational project developed by Kenneth F. Cunningham, MD, FRCPC, Department of Medicine, St. Paul's Hospital, University of British Columbia. It presents multimedia online education utilizing recordings of webcasts, presentations, and conferences. In addition to the presentations that are developed in-house, they also offer an extensive, categorized, and searchable database of free multimedia medical presentations available on the Internet. These presentations are accessed through the search facility, by browsing the category listings, or by reference to the presenting groups. Most lectures are voiceover slide presentations. Visitors are invited to log on for CME credits.

For a quick perusal of diagnostic radiological images visit Body Imaging Teaching Files (www.uhrad.com), hosted by University Hospitals of Cleveland Department of Radiology. Within the sections "Women's," "Neurological," "Musculoskeletal," "Nuclear & SPECT," "Pediatrics," and "PET" can be found lists of individual cases described briefly via "Clinical History," "Radiological Findings," "Diagnosis," and "Discussion." This is a no-frills website offering very brief tutorials focused on radiologically confirmed diagnoses. The case discussions, which are biased towards diagnosis, are given the most attention.

Visitors can access a large six-section treatise on mammography at Basic Radiology Imaging Lectures (http://radiology.creighton.edu/basicimaglec.html). Authored by Dr. John Terry of the Creighton University School of Medicine, this succinct dissertation can be assimilated in one sitting. It is comprised of the following sections: "Introduction," "Physical Principles," "Evaluation of Masses, Calcifications, Structural Changes," and "Location of Lesions." The descriptions are excellent, with a logical progression, and they discuss the diagnostically important nuances in the image with regard to the presentation of disease considered alongside the varying radiological appearance of normal breast tissue. It ends with a description of "Breast Imaging, Reporting, and Data System (BI-RADS) Categories."

Produced by Dr. Kevin T. Kavanagh, Associate Clinical Professor in the Division of Otolaryngology, Department of Surgery at the University of Kentucky, Larynx Videos (www.entusa.com/larynx_videos.htm) is a large series of videos that correlate sounds with vocal chord movement. After selecting a particular laryngeal pathology, videos are viewed by selecting download speed. The very brief accompanying text is hyperlinked to a glossary. The selection of videos relating to laryngeal cancer is accompanied by a link to a laryngeal cancer resource. The tab menu also offers: "ENT Videos, CME Tests," and the side menu "Primary Care Course."

The Toxicology Tutor (http://sis.nlm.nih.gov/Tox/ToxTutor.html) may not have an impact on your daily work, but it is an interesting, if specialized, resource. It offers a revision of physiology as related to toxicology. The "Toxicology Tutorials" are in three parts: "Basic Principals," including dose and dose response, toxic effects, interactions, toxicology testing, and risk assessment; "Toxicokinetics," touching on absorption, distribution, biotransformation, excretion and toxicology; and "Cellular Toxicology," discussing basic physiology including organ systems, cell damage and repair, adaptation, cancer, and neurotoxicology. Navigate by arrows, or use the map button if you prefer to skip the question and answer sessions. The home page has a search engine that accesses the "Specialized Information Services" of the National Library of Medicine, with a section on "Toxicology and Environmental Health" including a link to their "Household Products Database" (http://hpd.nlm.nih.gov), which may be useful.

The National Guideline Clearinghouse (NGC) (www.guidelines.gov) is an initiative of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality within the US Department of Health. It is a comprehensive database promoting widespread access to evidence-based clinical practice guidelines and related documents. Each guideline is reported as a "Brief Summary" with a link to the "Full Summary." There are 251 guidelines relating to neoplasms. Browse via "Disease and Conditions" or "Treatment/Intervention." There is a facility to compare selected guidelines from your on-site collection. It also offers a useful "What's New This Week" page.

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