Where the wired set roams
Physician Gurus of the Internet Give Their Top Ten Web Picks
From the March 1997 ACP Observer, copyright © 1997 by the American College of Physicians.
Have you ever wondered how experts in medical computing use the World Wide Web themselves? We asked six of medicine's foremost experts on the Internet and interactive technology to share their own favorite Web sites. The result is a diverse list of sites ranging from news services to search engines—Web sites that let users search for specific information—for both physicians and lay people.
Users with older Web browsers may have to add http:// to the beginning of each Web address.
James Cimino, ACP Member.
Associate professor of medical informatics in medicine at Columbia University.
MEDICAL
Cliniweb
www.ohsu.edu/cliniweb/
This medicine-specific search engine lets users search the Web for information about anatomy and disease. All search results are screened, so users receive top-notch information.
Duke University Medical Center: Healthcare Informatics Standards
http://www.mcis.duke.edu/standards/guide.htm
This site lists current standards for sharing data in information systems such as electronic medical records. Designed for both the informatician and the novice.
NON-MEDICAL
Lycos
www.lycos.com
This search engine features a people finder.
The Dilbert Zone
www.unitedmedia.com/comics/dilbert
The Zone features a current strip, an online store for merchandise and other silly stuff related to the popular comic strip.
William Detmer, FACP
Medical informatics consultant and clinical assistant professor, University of Virginia
MEDICAL
Reuters Health News
www.reutershealth.com
Look here for daily medical updates for professionals (Reuters Medical News), health news for consumers (Health eLine), and Web site reviews (Internet Health Watch).
Ovid Technologies
www.ovid.com
Access to Medline on this site is not free, but you get links to the full text of journal articles. Plus, you can search without knowing complex search commands.
NON-MEDICAL
The New York Times
www.nytimes.com
The online version of The New York Times offers the full text of articles, an interactive crossword puzzle, classified ads and special online-only reports.
Internet Travel Network
www.itn.net
Check flight availability and book a flight electronically, or reserve rental cars and hotel rooms using this online travel agent. The site creates a personal profile for each user and retains frequent flyer account numbers and meal preferences.
Bill Hersh, FACP
Associate professor of medicine and medical informatics at Oregon Health Sciences University
MEDICAL
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
www.cdc.gov
The site offers health information for travelers and online versions of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report and Emerging Infectious Diseases.
National Library of Medicine (NLM)
www.nih.nlm.gov
This site offers Medline and the Health Services/Technology Assessment Text (HSTAT) database, which contains AHCPR guidelines and NIH consensus statements. Dr. Hersh notes that this site can be difficult to navigate.
NON-MEDICAL
CNN
www.cnn.com
Home to breaking news on politics, world and national events, travel, style, entertainment, health and weather.
Amazon.com
www.amazon.com
This online bookstore with more than one million titles features interviews with authors and is good for locating hard-to-find books.
Gary Malet, DO
Co-chair of the Internet Working Group of the American Medical Informatics Association, Oregon Health Sciences University medical informatics fellow, principal of the Medical Matrix Internet Clinical Medicine database
MEDICAL
PubMed Medline Retrieval System
www4.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/PubMed/
This repository of Medline citations is linked to full-text articles on the Web sites of journal publishers. Users can search by author, journal title or other keyword.
The Heart Attack Survival Calculator
www.mei.com/resource/calculator/
Users enter clinical values and information such as patient history, heart exam results (known coronary occlusions, for example), vital signs and lab results; the site estimates the probability of the patient's survival.
NON-MEDICAL
National Basketball Association
www.nba.com
An "inspiring" video of Michael Jordan taking it to the hoop and up-to-date scores are the big draws at this site. Visitors can also name their all-star picks, buy NBA merchandise and take quizzes.
National Public Radio
www.realaudio.com/contentp/npr.html
Recordings of NPR shows like "Morning Edition," "Talk of the Nation," and "All Things Considered" are archived here, but you'll need RealAudio software (downloadable from the site) to listen.
Dan Masys, FACP
Director of biomedical informatics and associate clinical professor of medicine, University of California, San Diego School of Medicine
MEDICAL
MedWeb: Biomedical Internet Resources
www.gen.emory.edu/medweb/medweb.html
Links to other sites are indexed by topics like bioethics, grants and funding, oncology, and virtual reality in medicine.
Internet Grateful Med
igm.nlm.nih.gov
This site links users with Grateful Med, the NLM software used to search Medline. Users pay by connect time and number of downloads.
NON-MEDICAL
Lycos Road Maps
www.lycos.com/roadmap.html
Need directions? This site creates a detailed map for any address you supply, door-to-door driving directions between two points and estimates of travel time and mileage.
Weather Channel
www.weather.com
Tracks conditions and forecasts using geographical maps and features a map displaying airport delays, weather facts and radar images for hundreds of cities.
Ted Shortliffe, FACP
Associate dean for information resources and technology, Stanford University School of Medicine, and ACP Regent
MEDICAL
The NPAC Visible Human Viewer
www.npac.syr.edu/projects/vishuman/VisibleHuman.html
Users can view and download cross-sections of the human torso from the NLM's Visible Human database on this site. You'll need a Java-compatible Web browser like Netscape 3.0.
The Interactive Patient
medicus.marshall.edu/medicus.htm
Simulated patient encounters at this site allow users to take a history, "do" a physical exam, order tests and ultimately make a diagnosis. Category 1 CME credit is obtainable for a fee.
NON-MEDICAL
Jazz Online
www.jazzonline.com/
You can read about, order, or even sample new jazz CDs using RealAudio. Editorials, interviews with jazz bigwigs and contests are also featured.
Kodak: Picture This
http://www.kodak.com/digitalImaging/pictureThis/picThisHome.shtml
This site allows you to create multimedia "postcards" complete with pictures and personalized messages; intended recipients later receive an e-mail message from Kodak telling them where on the Web they can view the finished product.
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