All packages run on both Macintosh and Windows platforms, unless otherwise stated. Additional requirements, the number of disks and any extra items included are noted at the end of each review. The course is sponsored annually by a consortium of 16 local hospitals and academic institutions, which guarantees at least several of Philadelphia's top obstetricians and gynecologists will author and lecture. The three-diskette package is distributed free of charge to all course attendees before being offered for sale to the rest of us.
Content varies from good to excellent, with a depth and breadth appropriate for Boards review.
Included are a number of surprise topics on general medicine, such as adult immunizations, hepatitis, and complementary medicine, but there are also curious exclusions, such as little mention of pelvic inflammatory disease. Surgical techniques and radiographic work-ups are well detailed but the software is totally devoid of multimedia, so in these articles the lack of even simple graphics is strongly felt. All lectures are available from the main menu within eight sections, or directly from the contents icon accessed via the tool bar. One nice feature is its expandable list of subheadings linked to the article. Tables appear within the text, and the vast majority of lectures contain references at the end of the lecture.