Medical Browser

This Java program was written between 2000 (when I began my clinical studies) and 2005 when I was studing for MRCP.

Description

This is a four-way linked list database. Each record represents a medical entity of some kind, and is connected to other items in four directions: cause, effect, parent and child. Each item has usually one or two parents, indicating what 'kind' of entity it is, and has several children, representing subtypes of this item. It also has an arbitrary number of causes and effects. In addition, items have synonyms and some have a short descriptive text attached.

Link to newer online version of Medicine (HTML5 app)

The database allows you to run complex querys such as, 'find items that are children (directly or indirectly) of "Pathology", and whose chain of effects includes the item "Pruritus" within a depth of 4 recursions.'
Gradually being incorporated is statistical knowledge of cause and effect. The database is now stored on a central server and downloaded when the program is run. With a password, data can be uploaded back to the server. Run the medical browser

Instructions

  • If the program does not load automatically in 10 seconds, please try one of the links below
  • Double click items in the list to browse connections. Double clicking on any entity will make that the currently selected entity: it will move to the centre box, and the lists around are updated.
  • The centre of the window is a box showing is the currently selected entity. To the right is a list of its effects, to the left are its causes. Above and below are the superclasses and subtypes of this item.
  • CTRL+F: quick find, to search for an entity.
  • Filter-find is an advanced search tool, which allows you to search specifically for items that cause or are caused by any combination of other items. "Find explanation" allows you to see if there is any way in which a pair of entities might be causally linked.
  • There are several experimental features on the menus, including a dictionary, a semi-intelligent multiple-choice question generator, a table generator that intelligently makes comparisons between differential diagnoses, and a dynamic 'star-diagram' view of the connections.
  • Editing: CTRL+A = quick-add item - add new items to the current list. Any selection can be cut or pasted using CTRL+C or CTRL+V. Drag and drop editing is also supported.

Closing this window will also close the Medical Browser.

Other ways to access: