POGOe EDITORS CHOICE: GERIATRIC RHEUMATOLOGY

Despite the frequent manifestation of rheumatologic disorders in elderly patients, the diagnosis and especially the management of related symptoms remain problematic due to various complicating factors. The "Geriatric Rheumatology" module from the Donald W. Reynolds Department of Geriatric Medicine of the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, addresses these issues with a comprehensive yet straight forward, web-based tutorial. Created by Dr. Yuri Nakasato and Dr. Shari M. Ling with developmental collaboration from Dr. Thomas A. Teasdale, this educational product educates learners about variant presentations, diagnostic caveats, and management issues associated with such disorders.

The product primarily consists of 3 modules: Overview (including epidemiology), Common Disorders in the Elderly, and Medications. Other modules include an archive of printable documents for patients; a picture index (12 images), cases (3 cases with discussion prompts) and self-assessment multiple-choice questions. The most comprehensive module, Common Disorders in the Elderly, provides lessons on osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, crystal-induced arthritis, polymyalgia rheumatica, and spinal stenosis. Within each disorder, this module defines and explains vital aspects of each as they specifically relate to older adults, such as differential diagnosis, etiology, epidemiology, and unique presentations. Combining these programmed lessons with radiological imagery and medication guidelines, this module helps clarify some of the uncertainty in management of rheumatologic disorders. Furthermore, the three case studies and the MCQ self-test are provided to test the learners understanding and demonstrate how knowledge of rheumatologic disorders translates into proper management.

The interface is clean and user friendly, and the product appears to work best with Internet Explorer as web browser. The developers also were clearly aware of the voluminous amount of information that this product contains. What you will notice immediately when you navigate through the site is the attention given in ensuring that navigation tools assist the users in finding specific content topics through every step of the navigation process. Users can navigate via the menu listing arranged as books on the left hand side, search words through a comprehensive word search function on the top, utilize the index listing, and also use the footprint on the upper right hand corner in case they need to backtrack.

At the completion of the modules in "Geriatric Rheumatology," the learner should be able to "recognize atypical presentations of common rheumatologic disorders in the elderly, understand the physiologic changes associated with aging that predispose patients to adverse effects of pharmacologic therapy, and evaluate risk and benefits of such therapies, and formulate an adequate therapeutic plan for elderly patients with rheumatologic conditions including non-pharmacologic modalities focusing in maintaining or improving patients level of function and quality of life." We highly suggest "Geriatric Rheumatology" and it is appropriate for all levels of learners from clinical medical students to practicing physicians. It can be found right here on POGOe!