Finding medical information on the Internet

The Internet has transformed access to information on health and medical topics, something that has benefited both doctors and patients. Information that previously would have required several hours to locate and obtain from a medical library can now be obtained in minutes. 

In most parts of the country, good medical libraries are few and far between, and usually found only in universities and large hospitals. Most patients did not even know where they were located and many doctors did not have the time to visit them. But now, the Internet is increasingly replacing medical libraries as the first source of information for people who want to find out more about a medical topic or learn about options for treatment. 

What has driven this process? Well, firstly, there was the development of the Internet itself. This was followed by the development of software for publishing, displaying and accessing information on the Internet more easily. Finally, there was the rapid spread of Internet access among homes, workplaces, schools, libraries and universities. 

Because publishing information on the Internet costs only a fraction of what it would cost to publish this information in print format, publication of information on health has increased rapidly. Governments, hospitals, general practices, doctors, medical charities, consumer health organisations, medical schools, and drug companies all have websites providing information on health. For example, my practice's website is www.claphamhealth.org.uk. Much of this information is available at no cost, including information in many medical journals that charge for copies of their print publications. 

However, this vast proliferation in medical information on the Internet has also brought problems. The most important of these is that finding the right information for you can be difficult among the vast amount of information that is currently available. For example, using a search engine, such as Google, will often bring up thousands of Internet sites that may have the information you need. These sites will be of variable quality and, for the non-medically qualified person, trying to distinguish the good quality information the rest, can be difficult. 

How can you distinguish the useful from the not so useful information? Well, as a rule of thumb, medical information published by governments, professional societies, and large medical charities can usually be trusted. Smaller sites can also be useful but often do not have the resources to check all the information they publish and keep it up to date. This is why on my practice's Internet site, although we do publish some medical information, we advise our patients to use one of the sites on our Medical Links page to find the information they want.

To help you locate high quality medical information, I have listed my own 'top ten' medical Internet sites below. There are two lists of medical sites. One is for sites aimed largely at the general public. These sites also contain a lot of information that is useful for doctors, in particular, simple explanations that doctors can use to give to their patients. The second list is of more specialised medical sites (largely consisting of medical journals) that will probably be of greater relevance to doctors, but which patients can also look at. I have tried to include only sites that offer free access to their information. For this reason, some major medical journals have not been included in the list, because they charge to read many of their articles. If you don't agree with my lists, then let me know your suggestions and I'll consider changing my own.

After you have searched the Internet and obtained the information you need, please remember that your doctor is a busy person. Although most doctors (including me) will be happy to discuss with you the contents of the Internet printouts that you bring to your consultation, try to be selective in what you bring. With sensible use of the Internet, we can greatly increase both doctors' and patients' knowledge about medical issues, and encourage greater participation among patients in decisions about their health care. 

Finally, remember that not every one has access to the Internet or can make sense of the information they obtain from it. Some groups will always need their doctors, nurses and therapists to advise them about their health.  

Top 10 sites for the general public

1. Medlineplus

2. NHS Direct

3. Health Education Board for Scotland

4. NHS Immunisation Website

5. British Broadcasting Corporation Website

6. Canadian Health Network

7. Health Insite

8. British Heart Foundation

9. CancerBACUP

10. Patient UK

Top 10 sites for doctors

1. British Medical Journal

2. American Family Physician

3. Canadian Medical Association Journal

4. Medical Journal of Australia

5. National Electronic Library for Health

6. National Library of Medicine Medline (PubMed)

7. Highwire Library of Science & Medicine

8. Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network

9. Public Health Laboratory Service

10. Department of Health