PsL Monthly 1994 February/psl_9403.zip/psl_9403/DOS/HOME/MEDPAS3.ZIP/MANUAL.LZH/SHAREMAN.ASC

Text File | 1993-10-12 | 55KB | 1,287 lines

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      ║                             MEDPAS                             ║
      ╠════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣
      ║    Copyright (c) iDRSystems Ltd. 1992. All rights reserved.    ║
      ║                   This is NOT a licensed copy.                 ║
      ╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝

        MEDPAS is distributed through Shareware for EVALUATION purposes
         only. Full copyright remains with the authors, iDRSystems Ltd.


═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
     If you intend to use MEDPAS after evaluation, or retain it after the
        trial period of 30 days, you MUST register with iDRSystems Ltd.
                 or its distributor, Cambridge Technologies.
══════════════[ Please read the registration form for details ]══════════════
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                        ESSENTIAL READING


      After the initial screen, you will be presented with a
copyright screen, which asks :

      "Are you using this program as a substitute for the
       professional judgement of a physician ?"

Please read this carefully. You must answer 'NO' to the question in
order to continue, any other answer will exit the program. Continued
use will assume you have read and understood the question, and have
replied in the negative.

      It is important that these instructions are fully understood.
'MEDPAS' is not an expert system, and should not be used as such.
It is also not a diagnostic tool, and should not be used as such.
It is not a medical reference, and should definitely not be used
as such.

      Although all medical information is correct and factual in the
areas where it is pertinent, the authors are unable to, and will
not, assume any responsibility for its use in reality, as they have
no control of the circumstances under which it may be interpreted
or applied. The practice of medicine, even in seemingly simple
areas, is a highly personal and complicated procedure. There is no
place for a mechanical relationship between patient and adviser.
At least, not within our present abilities with either medicine or
electronics.

      It is unequivocably recommended, therefore, that no medical
decision, other than to seek further help from a qualified
physician, is based upon the contents hereof.

  'MEDPAS' SHOULD ONLY BE USED AS AN EDUCATIONAL ADJUNCT TO THE
   PROFESSIONAL ADVICE AND HELP THAT IS THE PROPER DOMAIN OF THE
   QUALIFIED PHYSICIAN. IT SHOULD NEVER BE USED IN ANY WAY AS A
   REPLACEMENT FOR IT.
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                        PHILOSOPHY OF MEDPAS


For the majority of people the human body is a reliable and
enduring machine that continues to function with the minimum of
conscious maintenance and repair. At times, however, it may falter,
when disease and illness affect its well being and integrity. It is
at those times that most of us then turn our attention to the
fragile vulnerability of this marvellous biological mechanism which
we inhabit. It is also at those times that we are perhaps least
able to be objective in our assessment of its correct needs, and
to realise the limited extent of knowledge we possess about
ourselves.

      In recent years, however, this has been changing. There has
ben a growing awareness and curiosity of the functioning of our
bodies. A need for understanding, of greater personal control and
a desire to prevent disease through an increase in knowledge seems
much more prevalent than even a decade ago.

      The World Health Organisation has defined health as a state of:

      '...complete physical, mental and social well-being and not
          merely the absence of disease and infirmity.'

      An emphasis on the positive rather than passive approach to
health is being asked for. It indicates an increased need for
information and knowledge of our bodies and the way they react to
illness and disease. It is our hope that 'MEDPAS' will achieve, in
some part, the above objective and enable the extension of
individual competence in the formation of decisions taken with
regard to personal health.

      It is not within the aims of 'MEDPAS' to diagnose and treat
medical illness, nor is it meant as a reference source, or, indeed,
to replace in any way the unique and highly complex skills of a
physician. Its 'raison d'etre' is merely to educate, to inform and
to try to raise in some small way the level of awareness that each
individual should posses about the intricate structure of their
body, both in illness and in health.
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                        THE PROGRAM


'MEDPAS' is not a single program but rather a collection of
'chapters' which have been annealed to form a single entity under
the control of a central unit, the master menu. It is menu driven
throughout with context-sensitive help whenever a decision is
required.

      Installed throughout 'MEDPAS' are two TSR's, or Terminate and
Stay Resident programs, which are available almost anywhere through
their own hot keys. These are a dedicated dictionary and a notepad.
The dictionary is memory resident and therefore immediate in
its response with no disc access. The notepad is a full screen,
free form, text entry pad with basic wordprocessing facilities.
It is meant to make notes, reminders or cross references where
they are not available. NEITHER OF THE TSRs ARE ENABLED IN THIS
VERSION BUT WILL BE AVAILABLE IN THE REGISTERED ONE. Once the program
is exited, the TSRs will be automatically cleared from memory.

      The main body of the program is divided into ten sections.
Each section may be chosen only from the master menu and will
default to it upon exiting. Each section is fully explained in the
contents section of this manual.

                        OVERVIEW

MEDPAStm is essentially a menu driven suite of individual
chapters, all of which are controlled through a master menu, to
which the program defaults  upon exiting from any of the sections.
At the present time there are ten chapters available from the menu,
each available for selection by cursor key movement and pressing
<CR> for confirmation.

      If working from dual floppies, you are then prompted for the
correct data disc to be inserted into Drive B.  The choice made may
be changed by pressing the <DEL> key, and another made.  Once the
correct disc is inserted, pressing <CR> again will allow entry to
the chosen section. Hard disc users will not, of course, require any
prompting for a change of disc.

      On entering a new chapter, a suitably apt quotation will appear
on screen while the body of the section is being loaded.  This should
take between 2 and 5 seconds on a floppy system, according to the
size of the loading chapter, when a prompt to press any key will
appear to signal the end of initialisation and allow progress into
the chapter proper.

      While in the master menu, pressing <Esc> will end the program
and return control to DOS. The same key is used in the individual
chapters to return control to the master menu.

      To facilitate quick movement within the program, all program
direction points have been configured for single key entry, and
type ahead has been allowed.
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                        STRUCTURE


The package runs from a master menu which accesses ten separate
sections; these are


     SYMPTOM ANALYSIS              NUTRITION
     HOMETESTS                     GENETICS
     CHILD DEVELOPMENT             OBESITY
     INFECTIOUS DISEASES           MEDICAL SHORTHAND
     MEDICAL RECORDS               DISEASE LIBRARY


     In addition to the main sections, there are 3 permanently
resident features available throughout. These are accessed with
dedicated hot keys and consist of;


               ON-LINE DICTIONARY
               ON-LINE NOTEPAD
               CONTEXT-SENSITIVE HELP SCREENS
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