Medical palmistry

Step 1

On the host computer, organize your material by creating headings, which can subsequently be used as bookmarks and hyperlinks.

Step 2

Insert your text (ie, the information you will want to reference) into the organized framework using Microsoft Word or similar word processing software. It is possible to indent and assign numbers or bullets for clarity, but remember that you sacrifice some screen space when doing so. A single level of indentation at most is practical, and often no indentation at all is required if there is adequate space between sections. Bullets and numbers can also be added without indentation.

Step 3

Insert bookmarks to quickly access areas of text you might wish to jump to.

Step 4

Insert hyperlinks in the parts of the text previously labeled as bookmarks. These are links embedded in the text to help users navigate through the document or between documents, allowing you to find material quickly.

Step 5

Insert other links. There are many other areas of text, other than main headings, that might need to be connected elsewhere. For example, for parts of the text referring to different aspects of electrocardiogram tracing, you can include a link to an explanatory graphic.

Step 6

As mentioned in step 5, the text reader can link to “jpg,” “gif,” and other graphics files. Hyperlinks to these files are made in exactly the same way as hyper-links to regular text.

Step 7

Create flowcharts. Flowcharts are especially useful in the summation of a medical investigation. Hyperlinks allow each step in the flowchart to be contained on a separate page. Each branch of the flowchart can be represented as a set of hyperlinks, linking each choice to the next appropriate page.

Step 8

Create a hypertext markup language (HTML) document. The Microsoft Word document you created with a “doc” extension needs to be converted into a document formatted for a Web browser. This means saving the document as a webpage (with the “htm” or “html” extension). Double-click on the file with the new extension to bring up your work in your browser. You can port this file directly to your PDA using iSiloX, which will queue the file (now in a “pdb” format) for installation during your next HotSync (the process of synchronizing information between your host computer and your PDA).

Step 9

Edit or update information. Although your HTML file cannot be edited within the browser, it can be edited if uploaded back into Microsoft Word or whatever word processing software you use. The toolbar at the top of the screen will usually give you this option. If it does not, open the HTML file directly in Microsoft Word.

Intuitive users might not require further guidance. Conversely, those wishing for more detailed instructions can find them on my website at www.palmedpage.com. This site contains a tutorial and a number of topics that I have developed for the PDA; these topics are downloadable. The Meistermed website also contains a tutorial and a large selection of medical topics for the iSilo text reader.

This discussion is specific for making documents for the PalmPilot, using iSilo as a text reader. The same text reader, or another program that can handle hyperlinks, can be used with the Pocket PC or other PDA formats; however, I have limited familiarity with such devices.