Book Review

PrimePractice Cardiology: A CD-ROM quarterly for primary care physicians

N Engl J Med 1995; 332:757March 16, 1995

Article

PrimePractice Cardiology: A CD-ROM quarterly for primary care physicians
(Vol. 1. No. 1.) CD-ROM with manual, 7pp. System needed: IBM PC or compatible with DOS 5.0 or higher and 8 MB RAM, with at least 5 MB hard-disk space and a single-speed CD-ROM drive. Osseo, Minn., IVI, 1994. $495 (single user).

PrimePractice Cardiology is the first issue of a quarterly medical journal on CD-ROM that has been developed by Mayo Clinic physicians as a continuing-medical-education (CME) tool for primary care physicians. Subsequent issues will focus on other subspecialties of internal medicine. For each issue physicians can receive a maximum of 10 CME credits (40 credits annually) from the American Academy of Family Physicians or the American Medical Association.

The current issue contains a comprehensive overview of a variety of mainstream topics and recent major developments in cardiology, all of which have been very well selected to match the interests of primary care physicians. The journal contains four sections: “Hot Topics” covers four major categories of cardiology (ischemic heart disease, dilated cardiomyopathy, cardiac arrhythmias, and sudden cardiac death), “Case Studies” includes four interactive case studies, “Library” is a comprehensive overview of the literature (adapted from Mayo Internal Medicine Board Review 1994-95, edited by U.B.S. Prakash. Boston: Little, Brown, 1994), and “Etc.” includes an audio interview with the journal's editor, who answers patient-oriented questions.

The CD-ROM multimedia format offers substantial advantages over the format of a conventional medical journal by allowing the user to view illustrations, animated sequences, and video-loops, which are interspersed with the text and case studies. More important, this format offers interactive sessions, on-line help and search facilities, and simulated testing sessions that can easily be tailored to one's current needs and interests. We encountered two minor drawbacks: image retrieval from the CD-ROM is rather slow on a 486 processor, whatever the RAM size, and the physical-examination portions of the case studies seem too detailed.

In conclusion, this CD-ROM journal is of value for general practitioners and for interns and residents in internal medicine. The excellent selection of topics and the informal atmosphere created by the software result in enjoyable and informative sessions. We would also like single volumes of the journal made available.

Jesaia Benhorin, M.D.
Bikur Cholim Hospital

Eytan Z. Blumenthal, M.D.
Hadassah University Hospital, Jerusalem, Israel 91120