the Internet Public Library

Medical Sources and Information

This guide is designed to help you find answers to medical questions. The Internet Public Library is not equipped to answer specific medical questions because we are not doctors or health professionals. The best person to ask about health matters is your physician, but if you cannot get the answers you want from your doctor or if you want more information than what your doctor provides, there are many sources, both on the internet and in print, which might help you find the kind of information you seek. We wish you luck with your research.

Internet Resources:

http://www.healthfinder.gov/

A link to health resources recommended by the U.S. Government. Searching this site will provide you with a list of online resources and/or organizations you can contact to find out more about a particular health condition. There are also links to online medical journals, state health departments and audiovisual resources.

InteliHealth .

http://www.intelihealth.com/

Based at Johns Hopkins University, the InteliHealth site provides links to pages from the American Medical Association site and the National Institutes of Health site, as well as an "Ask a Doc" service, information on prescription drugs, and a link to MedLine databases.

Health O@sis .

http://www.mayohealth.org/

This site, based at the Mayo clinic, has a wide variety of resources with special sections on Women's Health, Cancer, and Diet and Nutrition. Users can register to receive a free weekly newsletter, search for information on specific drugs, or just read the medical news of the week.

Medscape.

http://www.medscape.com/

Although this site is very technical, it provides a wealth of current information, including medical headlines, a medical dictionary, and access to MedLine, ToxLine, and AIDSLine.

NBCi: Health.

http://home.nbci.com/main/channel/0,2,home-hl,00.html

NBCi recently integrated the content of the HealthGate site. Now, the site is browsable by various categories such as Nutrition, Sexual Health, and Women's Health. There are also options to do a Medline search, view drug information, and explore research information.

ThriveOnline .

http://thriveonline.oxygen.com/

A comprehensive collection of current health issues and links to popular health magazines, such as "Shape" and "Men's Health". This site has information on just about anything you might want to know about health-related issues, including fitness, nutrition, medical conditions, and medications.

Reuters Health Information Service .

http://www.reutershealth.com/

A selection of current news articles on health issues. There is also a link to MedLine on this site.

MedicineNet.

http://www.medicinenet.com/

This site contains information on diseases and treatments, a link to drug information, a medical dictionary and an "Ask the Experts" service.

American Medical Association.

http://www.ama-assn.org/

A link to the American Medical Association homepage.

Yahoo's list of Medicine Resources.

http://www.yahoo.com/Health/Medicine/

Yahoo's very comprehensive list of links related to medical topics. This would be a good place to start if you do not know exactly what you want to find.


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Information on Prescription Drugs:

RXMed.

http://www.rxmed.com/

The RXMed site provides links to patient handouts for many medications and general drug information.

Pharm InfoNet .

http://pharminfo.com/

Information on various drugs, as well as disease-specific information and discussion groups. This site appears to be updated daily, with a section devoted to a daily topic, such as dietary supplements.


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Print Sources:

There are many books to choose from about general medical topics. If you are interested in learning more about general medicine, you might consider looking for some of the following titles in your library or bookstore:

The Merck Manual of Medical Information: Home Edition (1st Edition)

By: Robert Berkow (Editor), Mark H. Beers (Editor), Andrew J. Fletcher (Editor)

The Physician's Desk Reference Family Guide Encyclopedia of Medical Care: 1998

Family Health and Medical Guide

By: Editors of Consumer Guide (Editor), Ira J. Chasnoff (Editor)

You can also ask your librarian for help finding more books about specific topics that interest you. If you wish to purchase books about medicine or medically-related topics online, try:

http://www.amazon.com/

Barnes and Noble Booksellers

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/

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Ask A Doctor Services:

Ask the Mayo Physician.

http://www.mayohealth.org/mayo/expert/htm/physind.htm

Ask A Pharmacist.

http://www.agenet.com/ask_a_pharmacist.asp

Yahoo's Page of "Ask A Doctor" Services.

http://www.yahoo.com/Health/Advice/


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Medical Libraries

Hardin MD.

http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/hardin/md/index.html

A link to the Hardin Library for the Health Sciences at the University of Iowa. This site contains links suggested by medical professionals in each discipline.

Jonathan Tward's Multimedia Medical Reference Library.

http://www.med-library.com/medlibrary/

This collection of online medical reference resources contains a medical dictionary, links to video and sounds clips, access to medical journals, and chat rooms.

National Library of Medicine.

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/

A link to the National Library of Medicine page.


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Other Ways to Search for Information on Medical Issues:

This pathfinder was created by Kendra L. Spiegel

You may also wish to see: IPL: Health and Medical Sciences Resources | The IPL Youth Collection of Online Resources for Dewey 613: Health

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