Computer in Pediatric Practice

Naveen Thacker

Hardware

• Keep your budget in mind and shop accordingly.
• If you are new to computer jargon like RAM, CPU Clock speed, VRAM, On board sound and so on, ask the vendor to explain and how it is going to be useful to you. If the vendor is vague in describing all the specs he enumerated, better go to another vendor.
• Also look that the vendor enquires about your usage of the machine and then tries to offer specifications as per your requirement, NOT that he tries to sell only his configuration.
• You will need to consider- what you are going to use your PC for. If you are only going to use it for productivity functions (using business applications like Word, Excel, Power Point, etc), browsing the Internet, sending and receiving e-mails and playing the occasional game or viewing VCDs, you can do very well with a Celeron or an AMD K6-II. But if you are going for heavy gaming or heavy graphics, go only for a PIII or an AMD K7.
• Look for your future requirements also and ask whether the upgrade is possible or not; If yes, what is the likely amount.
• Don't just go by the 'freebies' offered by the vendor, most of the time this freebies are not useful to us at all.
• The most important point is - Hidden cost - Try to discover the fact that most of the time the cost of some essential minimum configuration for your use is much lower than the price quoted to you.
• Always try the machine practically for checking performance
• Do not judge with someone else's so called experience
• Assembled Vs branded: The confusion is always there. Check for after sales service and your configuration. If you can rely on vendor for after sales service there should be no hesitation in buying an assembled computer.

Software

• This is the most neglected part when we are shopping for a new computer. We do not understand the reality that computers work as per the software and that also costs!
• Ask for the Operating System. Whether the licensed copy or not and what does it costs. Always go for the licensed Operating System and software.
• Check that the bundled software with the machine are of any use to you or not. Try to get the proper software as per your requirement. Pediatric Software
• There are number of specific software available in the market focused to Pediatricians. Just see that how useful the particular software is to your day-to-day practice.
• Don't be in hurry to buy. First ask for demo copy, see if it suits your requirements and vendor is ready to make necessary changes, then pay the money and buy.
• Always enquire and ensure after-sales support.
• Don't go straight away for LAN version even if you plan so. Try standalone for some time then go for networking.

Guidelines For Safe Computing

• You must use a licensed version of Anti-virus software like McAfee or Norton Antivirus to protect your computer from viruses otherwise you may end up with nothing but loss of all data and the pain you have taken to create your own data base. You must update virus signature files from the site of your Antivirus programme regularily. Pirated Antivirus programme are mostly useless as they are outdated and you can not update it. Remember every month 200 new viruses are detected.
• Write-protect your floppy disks when using them on other computers.
• Remove floppy disks from drives while booting; ensure that your system boots through the hard disk first, and that only if this process fails, does it ask for a bootable floppy.
• Change a setting in the BIOS that enables your PC to boot from the C-drive first.
• Use a good anti-virus program to scan a floppy disks before using it to copy files.
• Install software only from original write-protected disks with the publishers' label. If the originals are not available, scan the input media for viruses before installation
• Do not install pirated software's, especially computer games.
• Activate watch-guard programs (monitors) that look out for suspicious activity. Automatic virus monitoring should be happening constantly on your system to ensure that no infected files are transferred to your hard disk over the network
• Scan the entire hard disk twice a month.
• Scan files downloaded from the Internet or those transferred through a network, before executing them on your machine.
• Prepare a rescue disk with critical system files. For this, make an emergency repair Disk during the process of anti-virus software installation. Preferably, it should be bootable.
• Keep the original CD-ROM as you download any new virus signatures from the Internet.

Simple Terms And Phrases Used In Internet

Commonly Visited Websites Of Interest To Pediatricians

1. http://www.iapindia.org - This is official website of Indian Academy of Pediatrics.
2. http://www.aap.org - This is the official web site of American Academy of Pediatrics.
3. http://www.pedinfo.org/ - PEDINFO: An Index of the Pediatric Internet Dedicated to the dissemination of on-line information for pediatricians and others interested in child health.
4. http://www.neonatology.org/ - A site offering a variety of clinical and historical information for neonatologists and pediatricians, it also offers a good collection of links to other neonatology websites.
5. http://www.neonatology-net.com/- This site offers information and a communication platform for neonatologists and pediatricians.
6. http://www.vh.org/Providers/Teaching Files/PAP/PAPHome.html - This is a very good project from Virtual Children Hospital. PaediapaediaTM - An Imaging Encyclopedia of Pediatric Disease.
7. http://www.icondata.com/health/pedbase/index.htm - The Pediatric Database (PEDBASE) contains descriptions of over 550 childhood illnesses and has been on the Internet since November 15, 1995.
8. http://www.med.jhu.edu/peds/neonatology/poi.html - The Harriet Lane Links (formerly Pediatric Points of Interest) provide an edited collection of pediatric resources (4588 links) on the World Wide Web. Maintained and edited by physicians at Johns Hopkins University, this site attempts to catalog, review and score existing links to pediatric information on the Internet.
9. http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/hardin/md/ped.html - Hardin Library for the Health Sciences, University of Iowa. This is also a very good source for pediatric links on the Net.
10. http://www.rad.washington.edu/ - UW Radiology Webserver. This excellent radiology site from the University of Washington includes a Virtual Case of the Week, complete with x-rays to examine and a test form to submit, extensive radiology teaching files and pediatric emergency room cases, anatomy teaching modules, and an online textbook of musculoskeletal radiology. The site also includes online patient information and software archives. Various links to radiology websites are provided.
11. http://www.wwilkins.com/PDR/0031-3998toc.html - PEDIATRIC RESEARCH - Official Publication of American Pediatric Society, European Society for Paediatric Research Society for Pediatric Research, European Society for Paediatric Haematology and Immunology.
12. http://www.pedschat.org/ - International Pediatric Chat. This site allows you to participate in a variety of online chats on pediatrics. Instructions for using the chat channel are provided, as are provisions for downloading software, chat topics and schedules, and biographies of regular participants.
13. http://www.who.int/chd/default.html - World Health Organization Division of Child Health and Development. A site providing information on global childhood illnesses, specifically cholera, acute respiratory infections, and diarrheal diseases.
14. http://www.vaccine.org/ - The Allied Vaccine Group is comprised of websites dedicated to presenting valid scientific information about the sometimes confusing subject of vaccines.