Global Update

Indian Pediatrics 2002; 39:319-320  

Pedscapes

Pediatric Textbooks on the Internet - Those using the internet can now browse through electronic textbooks. The number of such textbooks on the internet is on the increase. Some text books require Adobe acrobat reader downloaded for reading the textbook in the same format as in the print version. Adobe Acrobat reader is a freeware and is available for download from www.adobe.com. A few of the websites hosting textbooks of relevance to pediatricians are listed here - www.Statref.com - www.statref.com This website contains a collection of textbooks pertaining to various specialties. The Current diagnosis and treatment series, which includes the Current pediatric diagnosis and treatment is accessible from this site. The publishers allow a 45 day free trial for unrestricted access following registration. Among the other textbooks which are accessible from this website are Schwartz’s Emergency Medicine; Schwartz’s Principles of Surgery, Color Atlas & Synopsis of Clinical Dermatology by Fitzpatrick and the ICU Book.

eMedicine - www.emedicine.com. The eMedicine series is a collections of peer-reviewed textbooks in various specialties. The pediatric textbook has a collection of over 200 well illustrated topics with a CME at the end of each topic. As of now, the full text is available free.

MDconsult.com - www.mdconsult.com More books have been added to MDconsult collec-tion. An exhaustive reference in cardiology, the MDconsult cardiology and MDconsult infectious diseases has also been added to this website. For those new to this site, the full text of complete Clinics of North America in various specialties is online. A large collection of over 40 medical textbooks including Nelson’s Textbook of Pediatrics, Braunwald textbook of cardiology, Cecil Textbook of Medicine are also online. Full text of the Pediatric Clinics of North America and Peri-natal Clinics will also be of use to pediatricians. This site allows a 10 day free trial.

Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine - www.harrisonsonline.com The latest edition of this popular textbook of medicine is available from this website. An one month free trial for unrestricted access is allowed. The website also contains an updated pharma-copeia. The website also has a facility for searching the complete text book, Hot topics section, multiple choice questions and regular updates to the textbook. Internet links to all available references listed in the textbook have also been provided.

Merck Manual - www.merck.com/pubs/mmanual/ This desktop reference is updated yearly and available free on the internet. The latest edition is accessible from this website. Section 19 or the pediatric section has over 20 well illustrated chapters which cover common problems in children. The online manual also has a search feature provided.

Virtual Naval Hospital Pediatric Emer-gency Medicine Manual - 
 www.vnh.org/PediatricEmergencyManual/ This website is a service of the U.S. Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery and is presented by the Electric Differential Multimedia Laboratory, Univer-sity of Iowa College of Medicine. The Pediatric emergency medicine manual is a concise handbook covering over 30 topics including poisoning, pediatric resuscitation, transfusion and various algorithms. The complete manual is available in pdf format for download free of charge. Another manual from the University of Iowa is the Family practice handbook which contains concise information on over 50 common pediatric problems. The URL of the family practice handbook is - http://www.vh.org/Providers/ClinRef/FPHandbook/12.html The information in both these manuals have been peer-reviewed and are thus reliable sources.

C Vidyashankar,
Pediatrician,
Military Hospital, Namkum,
Ranchi - 834010, Jharkhand,
E-mail: [email protected]