AccessSurgery is now in beta 2, which means we’re putting the final touches on the site before launch. It’s coming together nicely — at least from my myopic perspective.

Here’s a screengrab from one of the narrated animations, adapted from Zollinger’s Atlas of Surgical Operations. You can autoplay the entire operation or skip to the section of your choice. We’re planning to produce 40 of these animations and to integrate them with related content throughout the site.

Over the last two weeks, we’ve been conducting beta testing with surgical residents at UVA and Columbia. So far the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive and very constructive. Some of the changes we plan to adopt before launch include:

• Making “Zollinger’s Atlas of Surgical Operations” more prominent
• Renaming Self-Assessment as Board Review
• Adding “Surgery Review Illustrated” to the list of textbooks

AccessSurgery launches in
July.

Once the site is live, you’ll be able to browse through it — exploring topic pages, seeing the latest video updates. When you reach the core content on the site — a chapter from Schwartz’s Principles of Surgery, for example — non-registered users will view abstracts.

After launch, we’ll be adding new videos and animations of surgical procedures every month. Both will be delivered in Flash. We’ve partnered with Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons for the videos. The animations are adapted from Zollinger’s Atlas of Surgical Operations.

Last week, we previewed AccessSurgery at the MLA (Medical Library Association) meeting in Phoenix.  After all our internal work on the site, it was very gratifying to have positive external feedback. Seems like we’re on the right track. Admittedly, some people seem less enthralled by the viewing pleasures of a laparoscopic appendectomy than others. 

For the less queasy of stomach, here’s a screengrab from one of our video updates. These are short procedural highlights, a few minutes each, that are available as both Flash video files and video podcasts (vodcasts).