This highly interactive program is divided into several sections each of which may be accessed from a menu:

• Introduction,
• Terminology: definitions and explanations of important terms e.g. pain, analgesia, allodynia, hyperalgesia, nociceptors,
• Types of Pain: e.g., acute, chronic, nociceptive, neuropathic,
• Functions of Pain: under normal physiological conditions,
• Pain and Injury: examples of the variable link between pain and injury,
• Dimensions of Pain: sensory, affective, cognitive,
• Pain Assessment: pain assessment tools including rating scales and pain location charts,
• Pain Management: introduction to pharmacological and non-pharmacological methods of pain relief,
• Summary,
• Revision: 20 self-assessment MCQ questions.

High quality colour graphics, animation and Hypertext are used extensively throughout the program to enhance student learning. The program is highly interactive and uses several features to promote this - e.g. students are required to:

1. Label diagrams by "dragging" labels from a list and "dropping" them into the box corresponding to the correct position on the diagram;
2. Interpret different pain charts,
3. Answer a variety of questions which may be multiple choice, selecting correct phrases from a list to complete a statement, true/false questions with feedback, hangman game, matching definitions with statements etc.

The learning package is intended to be used either to support existing teaching methods or for independent study where it could be used as an alternative to staff-led tutorials or lectures (the material covers approximately two to three one-hour lectures to first year students). It is estimated that it would occupy students for two to four hours of fairly intensive study and is suitable for primary learning or revision. The question-answer sections may also be useful for self-assessment.

System Requirements: IBM PC's running Windows, CD-ROM drive.

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