This research guide presents a selected list of consumer health links. The majority of the websites featured below will link to additional resources on specific topics.
Library Resources
The following Drexel University Health Sciences Libraries resources have patient education or patient handout sections:
AccessMedicine A medical education resource consisting of a large variety of up-to-date established textbooks that allows searching across multiple AccessMedicine publications.
DynaMed A clinical reference tool with clinically-organized summaries for nearly 2,000 topics in evidence-based medicine.
FIRSTConsult Designed for use at the time and point of care, an evidence-based clinical information tool for primary health care providers, part of the MD Consult Clinical Knowledge System.
MD Consult Provides access to over 36 medical texts, articles from more than 46 clinical journals, practice guidelines, drug information, 2,500 patient education handouts, CME, and daily medical updates. NursingConsult Brings together several leading nursing resources to help nurses efficiently find answers to pressing clinical questions; includes Latest Drug Information, Patient Education Information, Professional Journals, Reference Books, Current News, Clinical Practice Information, Evidence-based Content, and Care Planning Tools.
The AIDS Library of Philadelphi's is dedicated to improving access to health and support services, preventing HIV transmission, and raising public awareness of HIV/AIDS-related issues.
This website has a health and wellness section, a reference desk section with resources in both English and Spanish, and a directory of consumer health libraries in New Jersey.
This website is the local resource to turn to when looking for health information in the Philadelphia area. In addition to its health topics section, there is a calendar of health events in the region and health services by county.
The CDC has sections geared towards life stages, such as family, children, and, older seniors and specific popultationis like disabilities, and minority health. Other topics include healthy living and diseases and conditions.
This website is maintained by the U.S Department of Health & Human Services. Its features include information on health topics, a drug-interaction checker, and a directory of organizations.
This database links over 5,000 consumer brands to health effects from Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) and allows scientists and consumers to research products based on chemical ingredients. It also has links to PubMED and TOXNET.
This comprehensive website, created by the National Library of Medicine has an encyclopedia, drug information, over 165 interactive tutorials, videos of surgical procedures, and more. This resource also features websites on health information in various languages.
CAPHIS is the consumer health section of the Medical Library Association. It has a list of the top one hundred trusted consumer health websites. There are also links to recommended consumer health books.
Created by the American Academy of Family Physicians, this website has sections on healthy living; children's, men's, seniors, and women's health; and an over-the-counter guide. The Smart Patient Guide has information on advance directives, insurance coverage, medical errors, and more. The website also has a health tools section, which includes a dictionary, calculators, and trackers.
Hardin M.D. was launched in 1996 by the Hardin Library for the Health Sciences, University of Iowa. It is a source to find health and medicine directories, and medical images.
Created by The Nemours Foundation's Center for Children's Health Media, this award winning website's content is reviewed by physicians and other health experts before it is published. It has separate sections for parents, kids, and teens. Each section is also available in Spanish.
The Mayo Clinic website includes information on managing conditions, drugs and supplements, treatment decisions, and HouseCall, a free weekly e-newsletter. A health tools section has calculators, self-assessments, videos, quizzes, and slide shows.
Medem was founded by the American Medical Association and other medical societies in 1999. Medem provides a physician finder section, a medical library, and an e-newsletter for parents. It also encourages users to create an iHealthRecord, an electronic version of their health records, at no cost.
This tutorial, created by medical librarians, guides users through finding information on topics such as clinical trials, statistics, and drug information.
This tool from the Surgeon General allows anyone to create a personalized family health history report that can be shared with family members and health care providers.
NetWellness was created by a collaboration of three universities in Ohio. The website has sections on health topics, health centers, and a reference library.
NOAH stands for New York Online Access to Health. The website has three major sections: health topics, an index of conditions or health issues, and the page of the month. It provides both English and Spanish versions.
One of 19 websites operated by Stephen Barrett, M.D., Vice President of the National Council Against Health Fraud, offers information on questionable products and advertisements, non-recommended sources of health advice, and consumer-oriented information.
This video was created by the McGoogan Library of Medicine, University of Nebraska Medical Center. It follows a granddaughter and grandmother as they go to the doctor's office and find health information at a library. Although the video is intended for children, this video is also appropriate for those whose English is a second language and are not familiar with the United States health care system. It can be viewed in either QuickTime or RealPlayer, in English, Spanish, and Sudanese-Nuer.
This site presents consumer health and patient education videos that are developed by physicians and educators throughout the country. The videos address common health conditions, diagnoses, procedures, and treatments.
Consumers can search for more than 690,000 doctors of medicine
and doctors of osteopathy or osteopathic medicine of the American Medical Association on this website.
This North American directory from MEDLINEplus allows users to select state or province. Entires are listed alphabetically by city. The libraries' contact information and website are listed.
This searchable database is an online directory of health organizations. There is also a link to Health Hotlines, a listing of toll free numbers for over three hundred organizations.
