NREHub

MedCORE Document Design Specification

Every major section follows this 2-table sequence:

1,929 words ~9 min

MedCORE Document Design Specification

A complete formatting and layout script for reproducing this document’s visual language

1. PAGE SETUP

  • Paper size: A4 (11,906 × 16,838 DXA — this is NOT US Letter, stay on A4)
  • Margins:
    • Top: 1020 DXA (~0.71 in)
    • Bottom: 1020 DXA (~0.71 in)
    • Left: 1134 DXA (~0.79 in)
    • Right: 1134 DXA (~0.79 in)
    • Header distance from edge: 708 DXA (~0.49 in)
    • Footer distance from edge: 708 DXA (~0.49 in)
  • Content width: 9,638 DXA — every table spans this exact width

2. TYPOGRAPHY

  • Universal font: Arial — used for everything, no exceptions
  • Body text default: 10pt (sz=20 in half-points), color #1A1A2E
  • No line spacing multiplier on body text — tight, compact feel
  • Hyphenation: suppressed globally

Font Size Scale (all in pt)

Use Size (pt) Half-point value
Topic title / hero name 20pt 40
Body / table content 10pt 20
Section sub-labels 9.5pt 19
Secondary body 9pt 18
Metadata / labels 8.5pt 17
Fine print / header-footer 8pt 16
Absolute minimum 7.5pt 15 (footer only)

3. COLOR PALETTE

Background colors (table cell fills)

Role Hex Description
Navy/night (title bar, primary header) #0A1628 Deepest dark — used for the top title block and comparison table headers
Royal blue (section headers) #1B3A6B Standard section label bar — the most-used dark header
Slate blue (comparison col headers) #2C4A7A Mid-dark for table column headers
Steel blue (alt col headers) #2C5F8A Slightly lighter variant for secondary comparison headers
Dark teal (Numbers section) #0E6B6B Used only for KEY NUMBERS section
Forest green (Management/Pearls) #1A6B3A Used for management and MCQ Pearls sections
Deep navy variant #344E7A Used for Terminology section header
Deep purple (Pattern section) #4A2060 Used for NRE Pattern section only
Crimson red (Alerts/Traps) #C8392B Used for EXAM TRAPS and IMMEDIATE action bars
Light blue-grey tint #F4F6FA Subtle alternating row / vignette pattern block
Very light teal tint #E8F5F5 Recognition trigger content cell
Very light green tint #F0FAF4 MCQ Pearls content cell
Very light pink tint #FDF0EE Exam Traps content cell
Very light purple tint #F8F0FF NRE Pattern content cell
Near-white grey #F2F7F7 Light table row backgrounds
Pure white #FFFFFF Default content cells

Text colors

Role Hex
Default body text #1A1A2E (near-black navy)
Dark blue heading #1B3A6B
Header/footer muted text #5A6A8A
Mid blue metadata #6080A8
Light muted label #7090B8
Very light watermark text #A0B4D4
Dark header overline text #A0B4D4 (on #0A1628 bg — pale on dark)
Alert / Trap text accent #C8392B
Green section text #1A6B3A
Purple section text #4A2060
White text on dark backgrounds #FFFFFF

Border colors

Use Hex
Teal section border #0E6B6B
Green section border #1A6B3A
Purple section border #7B35C0
Red/alert border #C8392B
Subtle rule lines #D0D8E8
Header underline #0A1628 (6pt thick, same as title bg)

4. HEADER (repeating, every page except first)

  • Single line paragraph with a thick bottom border: #0A1628, 6pt, single style
  • Left side: Bold, 8pt, color #1B3A6B — breadcrumb: MedCORE › [Category] › [Subspecialty]
  • Right side (same paragraph, tab-spaced): Regular, 8pt, color #5A6A8A — Dr. [Name] · [Exam] [Year]
  • Spacing after paragraph: 80 DXA (small gap before content)
  • First page uses a blank header (different first page header enabled)

5. FOOTER (repeating, every page except first)

  • Single line paragraph, centered
  • Thin top border: #D0D8E8, 4pt, single style
  • Spacing before: 80 DXA
  • Text: Regular, 7.5pt, color #5A6A8A
  • Content: MedCORE — Medical Clinical-Oriented Rapid Education · Commercial Edition · Page [auto page number]

6. DOCUMENT STRUCTURE — THE TABLE SYSTEM

This document is entirely built from borderless tables. There are no standalone paragraphs with body text. Every piece of content — section headers, clinical content, comparisons, lists — lives inside a table cell. Tables have no visible outer borders; visual separation comes from colored cell backgrounds.

All tables: width = 9,638 DXA, fixed layout, left-justified, no table borders declared (borders suppressed with empty <tblBorders/>)

Default cell padding: top 120 DXA, left 200 DXA, bottom 120 DXA, right 100 DXA

7. TABLE ANATOMY — SECTION BLOCK PATTERN

Every major section follows this 2-table sequence:

Part A — Section Header Table (single full-width row)

  • 1 column × 1 row spanning full 9,638 DXA
  • Cell background = the section’s accent color (see palette above)
  • Text: Bold, 9–10pt, white (#FFFFFF)
  • Content = emoji icon + ALL-CAPS section title (e.g., 🎬 CLASSIC CLINICAL SCENARIO)
  • No visible borders

Part B — Section Content Table (immediately below, zero gap)

  • Also full-width, 1 or more columns
  • Cell background = the light tint paired with that section’s accent color (see palette)
  • Text: Regular or mixed bold/regular, 9–10pt, dark body color #1A1A2E
  • Content is prose, bullet-style runs, or sub-divided rows

Spacing between section blocks: paragraph before = 160 DXA, after = 0 (creates consistent vertical breathing room above each new section)

8. THE TITLE BLOCK (top of document, before any sections)

This is the very first element — a 2-row borderless table:

Row 1 — Module label bar (2 columns, dark navy #0A1628 background both cells):

  • Left cell (5,299 DXA): Bold, 8pt, color #A0B4D4 — CATEGORY — SUBSPECIALTY › TOPIC N
  • Right cell (4,339 DXA): Regular, 8pt, color #6080A8, right-aligned — EXAM · Month Year

Row 2 — Topic title bar (full-width merged cell, same #0A1628 background):

  • Bold, 20pt, white #FFFFFF
  • The topic name (e.g., “Phaeochromocytoma”) — large and prominent
  • Below the topic name (same cell, separate paragraph): metadata line in 8–9pt, color #A0B4D4: ★★★★★ High Yield · MedCORE Level N Entry · Dr. [Name]
  • Cell bottom padding: 200 DXA (generous breathing room under the title)

9. CLINICAL SCENARIO BLOCK

Immediately follows the title. Two nested tables:

Outer table — section header: #1B3A6B background, white bold text, emoji + CLASSIC CLINICAL SCENARIO

Inner scenario table: 2 columns

  • Left column (159 DXA — very narrow): #C8392B red background, empty or decorative accent strip
  • Right column (9,479 DXA): white/light background, 9pt italic text, the clinical vignette paragraph

Then immediately below: a single full-width table cell, #F4F6FA very light grey-blue background:

  • Text: Bold label VIGNETTE PATTERN followed by a colon and the pattern description in regular weight
  • This acts as a “what to recognize” summary line

10. COMPARISON / DIFFERENTIAL TABLE PATTERN

Used for the VS table (e.g., Phaeochromocytoma vs HTN vs Anxiety):

Header row: #0A1628 background, white bold text, 8–9pt — column labels Subsequent rows: alternate between #F4F6FA (light tint) and #FFFFFF (white) for readability Feature label column: Bold, dark #1A1A2E Data cells: Regular weight, 9pt

Columns are equal-width splits of the 9,638 DXA total. A 4-column table = ~2,409 DXA each.

11. MANAGEMENT / ACTION BLOCK PATTERN

Two-level structure:

Level 1 — Crimson alert bar: #C8392B background, white bold text — IMMEDIATE — First Steps or similar urgency label

Level 2 — Content cell: white background, 9–10pt, regular weight prose listing the steps (not bullet list — continuous run text with line breaks via separate paragraphs inside the cell)

Followed by:

Level 1 — Green bar: #1A6B3A background, white bold text — DEFINITIVE — Best Management

Level 2 — Green tint content cell: #F0FAF4 background

This red→white → green→tint pattern visually codes urgency vs. definitive action.

12. EXAM TRAPS BLOCK

Header: #C8392B crimson background, white bold, emoji ⚠️ + title

Content cell: #FDF0EE very pale pink/salmon background

  • Mixed bold inline: **Bold label —** followed by regular-weight explanation
  • Each trap separated by a blank line (new paragraph inside the cell)
  • All within a single large cell (no sub-rows)

13. KEY NUMBERS TABLE

Header: #0E6B6B dark teal background, white bold, emoji 🔢 + title

Column headers: #0E6B6B teal, white bold 8pt — PARAMETER | VALUE / THRESHOLD

Data rows: alternating #E8F5F5 (light teal tint) and #FFFFFF, with:

  • Left column: Bold #1A1A2E, 9pt
  • Right column: Regular #1A1A2E, 9pt; critical values bolded inline

14. NRE PATTERN BLOCK

Header: #4A2060 deep purple background, white bold, emoji 🎯 + title

Content cell: #F8F0FF very pale lavender background

  • Mixed inline bold: **LABEL:** then regular text
  • Three sections within one cell: HOW IT’S TESTED / THE DISGUISE / DISCRIMINATION REWARDED

15. MCQ PEARLS BLOCK

Header: #1A6B3A forest green background, white bold, emoji 💎 + title

Content cell: #F0FAF4 very pale green background

  • Inline bold for the category label, regular for the answer
  • Each pearl on its own paragraph line (tight spacing, no extra gaps)

16. SPACING CONVENTIONS

  • Between tables (section blocks): paragraph spacing before = 160 DXA, after = 0
  • Inside content cells: paragraph before = 30 DXA, after = 30 DXA (very tight)
  • Header sub-content: before = 80–100 DXA, after = 0
  • Post-title metadata line: before = 0, after = 120 DXA
  • Cell internal margins: top/bottom = 120 DXA, left = 200 DXA, right = 100 DXA (slightly asymmetric, more left padding)

17. INLINE FORMATTING CONVENTIONS

  • Section headers: ALL CAPS, emoji prefix with 2 spaces before text, bold, white on dark
  • Sub-headers within cells: ALL CAPS, bold, same color as section accent (e.g., green on green-tinted bg)
  • Inline bold labels: Written as Bold term — followed by regular weight explanation, all in one paragraph
  • Breadcrumb separators: Use › (chevron) not > or /
  • Bullet separators: Use · (middle dot) not - or •
  • No list numbering or bullet list formatting used — all content is paragraph runs inside cells
  • Star ratings: ★★★★★ unicode stars for yield rating
  • Italic: Used only for the clinical vignette scenario text

18. VISUAL HIERARCHY SUMMARY

Reading from largest/darkest to smallest/lightest:

  1. Title bar — #0A1628 navy, 20pt white bold — the topic name dominates
  2. Section header bars — colored (blue/green/red/teal/purple), 9–10pt white bold — mark major sections
  3. Sub-header rows within tables — slightly lighter shade of same color family, 8–9pt white bold
  4. Content cells — very pale tint of same color family, 9–10pt dark body text
  5. Header/footer — 8pt muted blue-grey, minimal visual weight

Every section is visually self-contained: its header bar, content cell, and color tint form a single visual unit that the eye reads as one block before moving to the next.

This spec describes the design skeleton only — no content is reproduced here. Any AI model generating a new MedCORE document should apply these rules to new topic content without modification to the formatting system.