Westminster Skin Consultation Manager

A Java-based desktop application designed to manage doctors and patient consultations for a skin consultation clinic. The system allows administrators to manage doctor records, schedule consultations, and store data persistently using file storage.

The application combines a console-based management system with Swing GUI tables for viewing doctors and consultations.

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Features

Doctor Management

• Add new doctors with details including:
  • First name
  • Surname
  • Gender
  • Date of birth
  • Mobile number
  • Specialisation
• Remove doctors using their medical licence number
• View all registered doctors sorted alphabetically
• Limit of 10 doctors enforced by the system

Consultation Management

• Select doctors through an interactive Swing JTable
• Add consultations linked to a selected doctor
• View consultations in:
  • Console view
  • Graphical table view

Data Persistence

• Save doctor data to a CSV file
• Load previously saved data from file
• Ensures data can be restored when the program restarts

Graphical Interface

• Java Swing GUI tables for:
  • Viewing doctor records
  • Selecting doctors
  • Viewing consultations
• Tables support sorting and selection

Input Validation

The system includes validation for:

• Names (alphabetic characters only)
• Gender values
• Specialisation fields
• UK mobile numbers
• Valid dates of birth
• Medical licence numbers

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Technologies Used

• Java
• Java Swing for GUI components
• Collections Framework
• File I/O (BufferedReader / BufferedWriter)
• Regex validation
• Object-Oriented Programming

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System Architecture

The system follows an object-oriented design using inheritance, encapsulation, and modular class structures.

Core Class Hierarchy

Person (Abstract Class)
│
├── Doctor
│     └── Consultation (list associated with each doctor)
│
└── Patient

Core Classes

Class	Responsibility
Main	Core application controller that manages the console menu, system operations, and program flow
Person	Abstract base class that stores shared attributes such as first name, surname, gender, mobile number, and date of birth
Doctor	Extends Person and represents a doctor in the clinic, including medical licence number, specialisation, and a list of consultations
Patient	Extends Person and represents a patient with a unique ID and personal details
Consultation	Represents a consultation between a patient and a doctor
DoctorsList	Swing TableModel used to display doctors in a GUI table
DoctorsAvailable	Table model used when selecting a doctor for a consultation
AddConsultation	Handles the creation of consultations through the GUI
ViewConsultation	Displays consultation records in a graphical table view
Date	Stores and manages date-related information

Key Design Concepts

Inheritance

• Doctor and Patient inherit common properties from the Person class.
• Reduces duplication by centralising shared attributes.

Encapsulation

• Fields are private or protected and accessed through getters and setters.
• Ensures controlled access to object data.

Polymorphism

• Doctor implements Comparable<Doctor> to enable sorting doctors by surname.
• equals() is overridden in Patient to compare patients based on personal details.

Composition

• Each Doctor contains an ArrayList<Consultation> representing all consultations associated with that doctor.

Serialization

• The Doctor class implements Serializable, allowing doctor objects to be saved and restored when persisting system data.

This modular architecture separates data models, business logic, and user interface components, making the system easier to maintain and extend.

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How the System Works

1. The program launches a console menu interface.
2. The user selects options to:
   • Manage doctors
   • Add consultations
   • View data
3. Doctor information is stored in an ArrayList during runtime.
4. Data can be saved to or restored from a CSV file.
5. Swing tables provide a graphical way to view and select data.

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Example Menu

1: Add a doctor
2: Delete a doctor
3: View all doctors
4: Save data into file
5: Load data from file
6: View doctors in table
7: Add a consultation
8: View consultations in table
9: View consultations in console
10: Save & Exit

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Key Learning Outcomes

This project demonstrates:

• Object-Oriented Programming in Java
• Data validation and error handling
• File persistence using CSV
• Building graphical interfaces with Swing
• Managing collections with ArrayLists
• Designing modular software systems

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Author

Developed as part of a Computer Science coursework project focusing on software design, Java programming, and GUI development.