Dermatology

A picture is worth a thousand words, says the old adage. And this is especially true in dermatology. So, before you even set off to read about skin diseases, it is probably worth you checking out what these skin lesions actually look like. If you're finding it hard to distinguish a papule from a vesicle, then you might be interested in brushing up your clinical examination skills with the extremely well organised tutorials provided by the University of Wisconsin (www.pediatrics.wisc.edu/education/derm/tutorials.html). The site is divided into three sections-primary lesions, secondary lesions, and patterns and distribu-tion of lesions. The master index at www.pediatrics.wisc.edu/education/derm/master.html gives each entity a brief but clear description.

If you want to then do some background reading on the subject, there are some good free electronic textbooks online (http://telemedicine.org/stamford.htm and www.hkmj.org.hk/skin/content.htm). The first is not impressive at first glance-the graphics and the organisation are poor-but the content is extensive. There are also a lot of pictures and schemes to go with the text. On the other hand, the second is definitely much more organised, but its visual aids are much worse-so both websites end up complementing each other.

Once you've mastered the theory, it's time to apply your knowledge in practice, and for that you will need an atlas. You can start with http://dermatlas.org/derm. It works pretty much as the Wikipedia of dermatology atlases, with medics from around the world submitting their own pictures to the bank. This generates a bit of overlap, but, despite this, the website is very comprehensive, with more than 7600 images accompanied by descriptions, clinical remarks, and links to further reading on the subject. It has excellent search criteria, including categories, diagnoses, and body areas. The site also incorporates a differential diagnosis tool, which gives you a diagnosis based on your description of a rash. Another excellent resource is a joint effort between two German universities (www.dermis.net/doia). The quality of the images is outstanding, but the accompanying theoretical back-up is not as good. It is limited to succinct well organised boxes describing the location and the type of lesion. Both sites also have exhaustive quizzes to help you revise or prepare for exams.

DR P MARAZZI/SPL

Papules caused by an allergic reaction to flea bites

Medical students don't tend to get that excited about pathology, but the odds are that you might be required to learn a bit of dermatopathology as part of your dermatology course or module. You can keep this website in mind-www.bweems.com. It includes a number of cases covering the pathology slides, accompanied by good interpretative text support. This site lacks breadth, but the main page has direct links to other good dermatopathology resources.