Medical webwatch.

This Practical Guide to Clinical Medicine http://medicine.ucsd.edu/clinicalmed/head.htm is an extensive education package for medical students and other health care professionals. It is written by Charlie Goldberg, MD, University of San Diego School of Medicine and describes the physical examination of a patient. Split into 25 parts it starts with the fundamentals of taking a history and then progresses through the anatomical systems. It is lavishly illustrated with photographs of investigative procedures and of disease presentations, and these are augmented by annotated photographs or actual markings on the body surfaces of the patient. Some x-rays and anatomical models are included. It rounds it all off with "Putting it all Together," "Write-ups," "Oral Presentations," and "Clinical Decision Making." Finally the "Few Thoughts" chapter offers 18 refreshing points to preserve a perspective for the student on entering the swirl of clinical medicine. The website describes its mission as "Representing a departure from the usual physical exam teaching tools ... by approaching clinical medicine in a pragmatic and demystified fashion, the significance of the material should be readily apparent and the underlying principles more clearly understood." Throughout the text there are small square icons linking to relevant cadaver dissections.

The Virtual Stroke University http://www.stroke-university.com has a large series of audiovisual slide presentations collated under the menu headings "Events," "Topics," or "Speakers." This extensive library of slide lectures have been garnered from international stroke conferences. Each presentation can be assessed by abstract, or speaker's biography, before opening the slide show. The website is one of the support features on European Stroke Initiative's website, http://www.eusi-stroke.org/members.shtml.

Based in East Sussex, United Kingdom, Medical News Today http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/index.php gathers all the latest international articles and reports related to health and medical news. These are presented as a large list of hyperlinked headlines opening to detailed synopses. All are accompanied by links to the original sources to facilitate further exploration. A category listing allows direct access to subject matter of choice, and RSS feed and alerts by email are available. Although one of many such news portals, this one particularly appeals to me, and the articles provide straight forward and effective information on contemporary issues. Although it is based in the UK, there is a substantial amount of material from the US.

It has been reported that a spell of hearty laughter causes venous dilation similar to that during a bout of aerobic exercise. Now is your chance to conduct a trial by exploring Medical Mirth http://www.globalfamilydoctor.com/LighterSide/MedicalMirth.asp a chuckle of amusing medical jokes, anecdotes, and interesting observations--I feel fitter already.

The medical broadcast listing at University of Washington Television http://www.uwtv.org/programs/med.asp is an enjoyable and eclectic listing of medical audiovisual presentations. Check out their weekly schedule for another awesome list of topics http://www.uwtv.org/schedule/week.asp.

The History of Ultrasound http://www.ob-ultrasound.net/historyl.html is a rich and lavishly illustrated history by Dr. Joseph Woo, MBBS, FRCOG (Eng), FHKAM (O & G). Concise biographies of all the main players are included in this chronology of an emerging scientific theory. The development of this theory, and of the associated experimental instruments, is dealt with in detail. Spanning the period from the late 1800s through to the 20th century, Woo's history is replete with photographs of these old instruments. As it progresses through to the glossy ergonometrically refined instruments of today one can almost feel the emerging modernity. And as parents swoon over the images of their unborn children, perhaps we should reflect on the great debt that we owe to these pioneers; for there were a surprisingly large number of persons who contributed to the development of clinical ultrasound.

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