E-medicine and the internet
E-medicine is getting me wired! And just when I thought it was safe to go back into cyberspace!
I now not only have to practice medicine,but have to compete with every Internet expert and disease related Web Site on the planet.
Patients frequently show up with printouts from the Web pages devoted to the disease with which they have already diagnosed themselves. I am constantly explaining why Gabe Merkin and I do not always agree on what is best for them. ( Marcus Welby never had these kinds of problems!)
The frustrating part of using the Internet for medical information it is that half of it is completely bad information. And since there is so much information on the net, there is an awful lot of bad information out there. This is not a particular problem for me for my colleagues, since we have the benefit of thousands of hours of concentrated training in this area. However, many patients can be led astray by information that can be uploaded by just about anyone with a point of view.
Despite this, I am a huge fan of the Internet and of using computers in medicine. People have been asking me for years where I get all the obscure or irrelevant facts I put in the these articles. My answer is the usual rule of thirds that I learned in medical school. One third of the facts I already knew. One third I found by looking them up using computers. The final third I just make up!
The Internet has even created its own diseases, along with attempts at a self-cure. Many people are now addicted to the Internet. People who seem particularly prone are those with mood disorders, and those who have trouble socializing with others. For them the net is a perfect interactive medium -- so much so that many people are now in need of technology detoxification.
There are now Web sites boasting Twelve Step Programs for Netaholics. The twelve steps correspond to the function keys F-1 to F-12 at the top of the computer keyboard. This lends a whole new meaning to the word “deprogramming”.
For those who would like to surf the cyberspace surgery, a good place to start is HON, the Health On the Net Foundation ( www.hon.ch). This is a nonprofit organization with headquarters in Geneva. It features a searchable database, free access to Medical journal articles, a code of conduct for online health information providers and links to subscribing sites. Any site approved by this organization is likely to have high-quality reliable information.
Its opposite number is Quackwatch (www.quackwatch.com). This is a nonprofit Consumer Federation of America member. It helps patients tell the difference between snake oil and quality medical information. (You might find their comments about chiropractors particularly informative.)
The granddaddy of all medical databases is MEDLINE. It lives in the basement of Beth Israel hospital in Boston, and is associated with Harvard University Medical School This is a computerized compilation of all the important medical information in all the important medical journals of the world for the last several decades. If there is something that has ever been written about in a reliable medical journal, you will be able to find it on MEDLINE.
Another worthy attempt to sort out the great masses of medical mush is the Cochrane Collaboration. This was originally started by an Englishman called Archie Cochrane, an expert on data analysis. Committees of experts review the entire world literature on specific medical topics in order to try and reach a consensus. This saves others the necessity for spending thousands of hours doing their own independent data analysis. Unfortunately, like many committees, the Cochrane Collaboration seldom ever reaches a definitive positive result. Almost all the summaries I have read from them conclude that they can't conclude anything about anything!
On line medical journals are now a standard feature of all to the top medical journals in the world. I frequently subscribe to both the written and the electronic versions. The advantage of the electronic journal is that the latest developments can be e-mailed to me on a daily basis. I therefore can receive valuable updates up to six months before they are published in the final paper version of the journal.
The Internet is a wonderfully valuable tool for getting medical information, but it is not perfect. Because information is so easy to spread on the net, almost anyone can upload any sort of medical drivel and it may seem more authoritative than it really is. So the buyer must still beware!
(By the way, did I mention that I now have my own Web site ?)
Dr. Patrick Nesbitt
I now not only have to practice medicine,but have to compete with every Internet expert and disease related Web Site on the planet.
Patients frequently show up with printouts from the Web pages devoted to the disease with which they have already diagnosed themselves. I am constantly explaining why Gabe Merkin and I do not always agree on what is best for them. ( Marcus Welby never had these kinds of problems!)
The frustrating part of using the Internet for medical information it is that half of it is completely bad information. And since there is so much information on the net, there is an awful lot of bad information out there. This is not a particular problem for me for my colleagues, since we have the benefit of thousands of hours of concentrated training in this area. However, many patients can be led astray by information that can be uploaded by just about anyone with a point of view.
Despite this, I am a huge fan of the Internet and of using computers in medicine. People have been asking me for years where I get all the obscure or irrelevant facts I put in the these articles. My answer is the usual rule of thirds that I learned in medical school. One third of the facts I already knew. One third I found by looking them up using computers. The final third I just make up!
The Internet has even created its own diseases, along with attempts at a self-cure. Many people are now addicted to the Internet. People who seem particularly prone are those with mood disorders, and those who have trouble socializing with others. For them the net is a perfect interactive medium -- so much so that many people are now in need of technology detoxification.
There are now Web sites boasting Twelve Step Programs for Netaholics. The twelve steps correspond to the function keys F-1 to F-12 at the top of the computer keyboard. This lends a whole new meaning to the word “deprogramming”.
For those who would like to surf the cyberspace surgery, a good place to start is HON, the Health On the Net Foundation ( www.hon.ch). This is a nonprofit organization with headquarters in Geneva. It features a searchable database, free access to Medical journal articles, a code of conduct for online health information providers and links to subscribing sites. Any site approved by this organization is likely to have high-quality reliable information.
Its opposite number is Quackwatch (www.quackwatch.com). This is a nonprofit Consumer Federation of America member. It helps patients tell the difference between snake oil and quality medical information. (You might find their comments about chiropractors particularly informative.)
The granddaddy of all medical databases is MEDLINE. It lives in the basement of Beth Israel hospital in Boston, and is associated with Harvard University Medical School This is a computerized compilation of all the important medical information in all the important medical journals of the world for the last several decades. If there is something that has ever been written about in a reliable medical journal, you will be able to find it on MEDLINE.
Another worthy attempt to sort out the great masses of medical mush is the Cochrane Collaboration. This was originally started by an Englishman called Archie Cochrane, an expert on data analysis. Committees of experts review the entire world literature on specific medical topics in order to try and reach a consensus. This saves others the necessity for spending thousands of hours doing their own independent data analysis. Unfortunately, like many committees, the Cochrane Collaboration seldom ever reaches a definitive positive result. Almost all the summaries I have read from them conclude that they can't conclude anything about anything!
On line medical journals are now a standard feature of all to the top medical journals in the world. I frequently subscribe to both the written and the electronic versions. The advantage of the electronic journal is that the latest developments can be e-mailed to me on a daily basis. I therefore can receive valuable updates up to six months before they are published in the final paper version of the journal.
The Internet is a wonderfully valuable tool for getting medical information, but it is not perfect. Because information is so easy to spread on the net, almost anyone can upload any sort of medical drivel and it may seem more authoritative than it really is. So the buyer must still beware!
(By the way, did I mention that I now have my own Web site ?)
Dr. Patrick Nesbitt