gasp@bu-cs.BU.EDU (Isaac Kohane) (11/03/87)
I have been working for a while on creating a medical handbook/quick
reference out of a collection of tightly crossreferenced hypercard
stacks. So far, I have implemented a drug formulary stack and a
pediatric fluids-and-electrolytes management stack. The intended
audience for these are health care personnel and physicians in
particular.
It occurred to me recently that I might create both a more complete
stack and have a more enjoyable experience if I were to use some of
the pooled talent in netland. Specifically, I propose to have several
persons working as editors of discrete areas of medical practice (e.g
signs and symptoms of genetic diseases, drugs of choice for various
infections...). Their responsibility will be to devise the format and
degree of 'intelligence' of the stacks in their area and then collect
and collate the information necessary. I will then merge these stacks
obtained by E-mail) into a central medical 'handbook' system with easy
access to the various parts of the stack network. At regular intervals
(every 6 months) the latest issue of the handbook will be obtained by
sending a diskette (or $1.10) and postage.
I intend to keep this a non-profit venture that will enlighten both
users and contributors. The information explosion has hit medicine and
its practitioners hard and this approach is one very convenient step
towards arriving at an acceptable solution. I urge those of you with
the expertise to pitch in; not only will we be creating one of the
first medical textbooks/knowledge resources of a new generation, but
we will also be testing how capable the net is of supporting this kind
of collaborative effort.
For the record, I am currently a resident at The Children's Hospital
in Boston, my graduate degrees are MD, PhD with the PhD in Artificial
Intelligence (medical applications).
Those interested should send me E-mail and not respond to the net.
When I have received enough responses, I will assign responsbilities
according to your interests. For those of you who wish to provide
medical information but do not wish to design your own stack I will be
able to help out. Also, if your stacks, like mine, will be more than
collections of text fields (which will often be sufficient in some
areas of medicine) and require programming in Hypertalk, either myself
or one of the other editors will be able to help out if need be.
Climb aboard.
Isaac Kohane