Health/ Guides

General Consumer Health and Medical Sites
  • American Medical Association Home Page
    Includes the full text of parts of the latest issue of JAMA and each of their Archives series of specialty journals, plus tables of contents. A helpful feature is AMA Physician Select, an online doctor finder, which includes the following information on each doctor: name, address, office phone, primary and secondary practice specialty, medical school and year of graduation, residency training, major professional activity and awards received. Also check out their Patient Page which addresses in consumer language a topic in the current week's issue of JAMA.
  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
    A major government-sponsored site with all kinds of disease information, news, statistics, funding sources, and publications such as the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, the EID journal, CDC Prevention Guidelines. Particularly useful is the Health Topics A to Z section which provides information and news in lay language on hundreds of diseases listed alphabetically.
  • CHID Online, The Combined Health Information Database
    A joint effort of the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Health Resources and Services Administration, this site provides access to more than 100,000 health-related materials that have appeared in magazines, journals, newspapers, brochures, book chapters, and videotapes. Content is summarized in abstract form and is intended for both health care professionals and the consumer. Although there is overlap here with other government health databases, there is much hard-to-find information also.
  • familydoctor.org
    This is a good basic site for very readable consumer health information, sponsored by the American Academy of Family Physicians. It provides authoritative, well organized and easy to understand information on over 500 health topics. There is an excellent self-care section organized by symptom, detailing just when a doctor should be consulted. There is also a drug information database, plus tools such as "Find a Family Doctor," a medical dictionary and a calorie counter. It also includes a kids section and a Spanish language section.
  • Hardin MD: Hardin Meta Directory of Internet Health Sources
    A large health gateway, this site "lists the best sites that list the sites." Lists of subject-related links are divided up into small, medium and large lists. A nice feature is the link to sources of images for many diseases and conditions. The site is created and maintained by the University of Iowa Hardin Library for the Health Sciences, and was one of the first, and remains one of the best, sites of its kind.
  • healthfinder
    This site is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and is a gateway to a vast amount of reliable consumer health information available from government agencies, non-profit organizations, and universities in a variety of formats: clearinghouses, databases, Web sites, online publications, support and self-help groups, and more.
  • InteliHealth
    This is a commercial site sponsored by Aetna, Inc. and as such does accept advertising. However it features authoritative consumer health information from Harvard Medical School and dental health information from University of Pennsylvania Dental School that is easy to read. Its "Health A to Z" section features information on a wide range of diseases and conditions. In addition it has useful features such as a "Symptom Scout," a drug information database, a guide to medical tests and procedures, a medical dictionary, and a direct link to AMA's Physician Select.
  • MayoClinic.com
    The site of the famous clinic provides lots of good consumer-oriented health information and news in an easily accessible format. Users can create their own profile for receiving information and help tailored just for them. There are also 12 "Condition Centers," such as asthma and allergy, arthritis and diabetes, and 8 "Healthy Living Centers," such as food and nutrition, fitness, and women's health, which provide extensive information and help. Unlike government sites, however, it does have sponsors (large drug companies), and accepts some advertising.
  • MedicineNet.com
    A commercial site which provides extensive, in-depth, physician-reviewed medical information for consumers on over 650 topics. It also includes information on procedures, testing, medications, treatments, wellness, product recalls, health news, a medical dictionary and a first aid guide. As a commercial site, it does have prominent advertising; however the advertisments are clearly marked as such, and the site provides detailed information on the company's ownership, editorial and advertising policy, and privacy.
  • MEDLINE:PubMed
    Provides free access to MEDLINE, the National Library of Medicine's database of more than 11 million bibliographic citations and abstracts in the fields of medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, health care systems and preclinical sciences. It also links to full text versions of articles, if publishers participate. Other National Library of Medicine databases can currently be searched at http://gateway.nlm.nih.gov/gw/Cmd/.
  • MEDLINEplus
    The best consumer health site available, sponsored by the National Library of Medicine. For each of the hundreds of topics, it provides the latest news, general overviews, diagnosis/symptoms, prevention/screening, research, condition specifics, directories, organizations, statistics, and information in Spanish. It also provides generic and brand name drug information, a list of online medical dictionaries, and directories of locations and credentials of doctors, dentists and hospitals.
  • Medscape
    One of the early comprehensive medical sites, originally geared toward the medical professional, and now with its WebMD, for consumers as well. It features thousands of free full text articles grouped by subject heading, medical news, access to MEDLINE, interactive quizzes and tools, and more. It is updated daily with all the latest medical and health news. The site is free but users must register for a password. WebMD features information on diseases and conditions in 18 different "Condition Centers" and can be customized to the user's own profile. It is a commercial site, and as such, accepts advertising.
  • MedWeb@Emory University
    Another great health gateway site, this was developed early on for the use of the staff and patients of Emory University Health Sciences Center, and has become one of the best sites of its kind maintained today. Well organized and easy to use, it provides information on a huge variety of health and medical subjects for both the consumer and the clinician.
  • National Health Information Center
    An information service, provided by the U.S. Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, which puts health professionals and consumers who have health questions in touch with those organizations best able to help. Areas covered are listed by subject heading. It includes a list of toll-free 800 phone numbers that provide health information and referral on a wide variety of topics, a list of Federal Health Information Centers and Clearinghouses with descriptions and contact information, and special health observances for the current year.
  • National Institutes of Health: Health Information
    A vast database of authoritative health information from this government agency. The extensive alphabetical subject index links the user to the government department, division, or office responsible for information on that subject. It also includes the full text of all their consumer health publications searchable by subject heading or by institute. There is also a link to their Clinical Trials Database.
  • NetWellness
    A general health and wellness site from the University of Cincinnati, Ohio State University and Case Western Reserve University. The most interesting feature is Ask an Expert, which allows users to ask questions of experts in over 50 health areas. This section also shows previous questions and answers in each category. The experts are from the sponsoring universities.
  • Praxis.md Best Practice of Medicine - Patient Guide
    Online consumer health information from Thomson Micromedex, a leading electronic and print health information provider. Users can choose from 14 general subject areas (cancer, mental health, digestive tract, etc.), each of which is broken down into more specific topics. A wealth of information is given for each topic, including basic information, symptoms, diagnosis, prevention therapies, and much more. There are no ads on the site.