WEBSITE RESOURCES FOR HOWARD UNIVERSITY MINI MEDICAL SCHOOL
(Selected from "10 Tried-and-True Health Websites," Real Simple, October 2003, pp. 135-138 and Wolinsky, Howard and Judi, 2001 Healthcare Online for Dummies, NY: Healthy Minds.)

TESTING SITES FOR RELIABILITY
(1) IS THE INFORMATION UP TO DATE?
(2) IS THE INFORMATION OBJECTIVE?
(3) IF THE WEBSITE REQUESTS PERSONAL INFORMATION, WHAT IS ITS SECURITY POLICY?
(4) DOES THE WEBSITE HAVE LINKS TO OTHER WEBSITES AND RESOURCES?
(5) DOES THE HEALTH ON THE NET FOUNDATION AND THE AMERICAN ACCREDITATION HEALTHCARE COMMISSION (URAC) RECOMMEND THE SITE?
(6) DOES THE WEBSITE INCLUDE .ORG (NONPROFIT GROUP), .GOV (FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AGENCY), OR .EDU (EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION)? THESE SUFFIXES MAY INDICATE THAT THE WEBSITE MATERIAL HAS BEEN REVIEWED BY PROFESSIONALS.

THE HEALTH ON THE NET FOUNDATION'S CODE OF CONDUCT (www.hon.ch) ANY HEALTHCARE WEBSITE SHOULD MEET THE FOLLOWING STANDARDS: AUTHORITY, COMPLEMENTARITY (between health care professional and patient), CONFIDENTIALITY, ATTRIBUTION, JUSTIFIABILITY, TRANSPARENCY OF AUTHORSHIP, TRANSPARENCY OF SPONSORSHIP, HONESTY IN ADVERTISING AND EDITORIAL POLICY.

HIGH-QUALITY WEBSITES CHOSEN BY MEDICAL LIBRARIANS
The Medical Library Association's Top Ten Most Useful Websites for Health Consumers: www.mlanet.org/resources/medspeak/topten.html.
The Internet Public Library's Reference Center: www.ipl.org/ref (click the Health and Medical Sciences Shelf link)
Emory MedWeb from the Emory Health Sciences Center Library: www.medweb.emory.edu/MedWeb
Librarians' Index to the Internet (Health and Medicine section: www.lii.org/search/file/health.

NEWSPAPERS' HEALTH SECTIONS ONLINE
Washington Post: www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/health.
New York Times: www.nytimes.com/pages/health/index.html.

ONLINE MEDICAL JOURNAL ARTICLE ABSTRACTS
The Journal of the American Medical Association: www.jama.com.
The New England Journal of Medicine: www.nejm.org.
The Lancet: www.thelancet.com.
Annals of Internal Medicine: www.annals.org.
Pediatrics: www.pediatrics.org.
Links to Other Medical Journals: Southern Illinois University Medical Library: www.siumed.edu/lib/webresources/webjournals.html.

GENERAL WELLNESS
Web MD: www.webmd.com. Basic facts on any condition.
MayoClinic.com: www.mayoclinic.com. Features health decision guides.
MedlinePlus: www.medlineplus.gov. Features most comprehensive data on any health condition anywhere on the Web, operated by U.S. National Library of Medicine.
Aetna Intelihealth: www.intelihealth.com. Features partnership between Aetna Insurance and Harvard Medical School, focuses on healthy lifestyle rather than disease.
Dr. Koop.com: www.drkoop.com. Founded by former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, features educational Webcasts and sounding board in community section.


CHILDREN'S HEALTH
KidsHealth: www.kidshealth.org. Feature content created for layperson and explains illnesses and treatments in children's terms in the children's section.

ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE
National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine: www.nccam.nih.gov. Features scientific basis for evaluating treatments.

WOMEN'S HEALTH
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists: www.acog.org.

CANCER
American Cancer Society: www.cancer.org. Features Cancer Survivors' Networks, searchable by ZIP code.

HEART DISEASE
American Heart Association: www.americanheart.org. Features Cardiovascular Disease Risk Assessment tool to help gauge risk of heart attack.

SELECTING A PHYSICIAN
American Medical Association Physician Select Website: www.ama-assn.org/aps/amahg/htm.
The American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology: www.aaaai.org/scripts/find-a-doc/main.asp.
American Society of Clinical Oncology: www.asco.org/people/db/html/m_db.htm.
The American Academy of Family Physicians: www.familydoctor.org/cgi-bin/finddoc.pl.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists: www.acog.org/member-lookup.
The American Academy of Dermatology: www.aad.org/findaderm_intro.html.
CHECKING A DOCTOR'S CREDENTIALS, LOCATING STATE MEDICAL BOARDS
Public Citizen's Health Research Group: www.questionabledoctors.org.
American Board of Medical Specialties: www.abms.org/newsearch.asp.


SELECTING A HOSPITAL
Hospital Select Website: www.hospitalselect.com.
HospitalWeb: www.mgh.harvard.edu/hospitalweb.
Hospital Report Card: www.healthgrades.com.
Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations: www.jcaho.org/qualitycheck/directry/directry.asp.
U.S. News Best Hospitals Honor Roll: www.usnews.com/usnews/nycu/health/hosptl/honroll.htm. Exercise caution when using a commercial rating system.

HEALTH INSURANCE PLANS
The National Committee for Quality Assurance: www.hprc.ncqa.org.
Medicare Website: www.medicare.gov.
Comparing Medicare plans: www.medicare.gov/MPHcompare/home.asp.

PATIENT ASSOCIATIONS
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services patient association webfinder: www.healthfinder.gov.

CLINICAL TRIALS
National Library of Medicine's Clinical Trials: www.clinicaltrials.gov.
Drug Industry Funded Trials: www.centerwatch.com.
FOR ADDITIONAL ONLINE HEALTHCARE INFORMATION,
USE A SEARCH ENGINE LIKE www.google.com.
Health.nih.gov http://health.nih.gov/
MEDLINEplus http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/
Healthfinder(English) http://www.healthfinder.gov/
Healthfinder(Spanish)http://www.healthfinder.gov/espanol/

BOOKS FOR HOWARD UNIVERSITY MINI MEDICAL SCHOOL WEBSITE

Berkow, Robert. Ed. 1997. Merck Manual of Medical Information: Home Edition. NY: Pocket Books.

Boston Women's Health Book Collective. 1998. Our Bodies, Ourselves. NY: Touchstone.

Consumer Reports. 2003. Consumer Drug Reference. Yonkers, NY: Consumer Reports.

Gallin, Pamela F. 2003. How To Survive Your Doctor's Care. Washington, DC: LifeLine.

Goldmann, David R. Ed. 1999. College of Physicians Complete Home Medical Guide. NY: DK Publishing.

Gotto, Antonio M. Ed. 2002. The Cornell Illustrated Encyclopedia of Health. Washington, DC: LifeLine.

Komarof, Anthony L. Ed. 1999. Harvard Medical School Family Health Guide. NY: Simon and Schuster Source.

Litin, Scott. 2003. Mayo Clinic Family Health Book. NY: HarperResource.

Perlin, David and Cohen, Ann. 2002. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Dangerous Diseases and Epidemics. Indianapolis, IN: Alpha Books.

Physicians Desk Reference. 2002. The Physicians Desk Reference Pocket Guide to Prescription Drugs. NY: Pocket Books.

Porter, Roy. 2002. Blood and Guts: A Short History of Medicine. NY: Norton.

Ramsey, Paul. 2002. The Patient as Person: Explorations in Medical Ethics. New Haven: Yale.

Siegfried, Donna Rae. 2002. Anatomy and Physiology for Dummies. NY: Wiley.

Wolinsky, Howard and Judi. 2001. Healthcare Online for Dummies. NY: Hungry Minds.



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