Rash of features in new ibook
Textbook on skin problems has study aids; easier to update
The latest book for the iPad just released by Edmonton app developer Fission Media won’t make for the same kids’ bedtime reading like its first iBook on Santa Claus did.
It features 25 of the most common and important skin problems along with outlines of each case.
“It’s a textbook for dermatology students and doctors that don’t normally deal with dermatology,” said Paul LaRue, the company’s design director who developed the iBook.
The iBook, titled Rapid Fire Dermatology, is an adaptation of a print textbook written by Toronto dermatologist Benjamin Barankin and Anil Kurian, a University of Alberta dermatology resident.
The tablet version of the book offers features not found in the traditional edition, such as interactive text, multiple choice questions of what the case could be, recommended treatments and images that can be enlarged.
“You’ve got definitions throughout the book that you can click right onto and you can create notes for flip cards and studying. It really is a great format for any type of textbook.”
Co-author Kurian said iBooks are becoming more common not only in the mainstream market, but in the medical community.
“A lot of physicians and medical students have iPads with them and they could download the iBook if they wanted to look up a skin condition that they weren’t sure about,” Kurian said.
“It’s just a lot easier for them; they don’t have to carry around extra books.”
Rapid Fire Dermatology is available on iTunes for $15.
For Fission, known for its personal finance app Back in Black, the book follows last year’s children’s iBook, 7 Sleeps Until Christmas, based on a locally written and illustrated book.
“We can see this type of publishing really taking off,” Fission owner Tom Dodd said.
“They’re more interactive, more portable and easier to produce than paper-based books,” he said.
“This form of publishing is also much easier to update for professions that are constantly changing.”