POLLS

I think it would benefit everyone a great deal if, when patients mention they are getting information from the internet, that they be asked what sources they use. If they are using for-profit sources to educated themselves, perhaps docs will kindly offer them a printed sheet of paper that tells them how better to get information relevant to their condition or symptoms. Pub-Med, Web MD, Medline and the Mayo Clinic are going to be more fair and accurate than sites that are there to push their books or specific products. Whenever a study is mentioned in any ad, news blurb or even hospital press release, the patient should be better educated to look at the entire study itself (not just the abstract) and see if the conclusions of the study are a leap in logic, a starting part for more investigation, or based on solid evidence. That is, backed up by a large number of study participants, whether or not the study was funded by people or companies who will benefit from the study's results (pharmaceutical companies, other product manufacturers) and whether the study results have been repeated.

Too many doctors dismiss patients who have, perhaps, read up on their conditions and have become well-informed on their specific condition because they assume the patient has read some cockamamie blog. The internet is a huge source of information. Some of it is great, some of it is terrible. You wouldn't say a person's POV is suspect because they got their info from a book. You'd ask "which book?"

I only use sites such as WebMD or actual Institutes of Research when I am looking for medical information; however, when I have tried to pass this information along to my doctor, I'm told to stay off the Internet because the information found there is not factual or based on any TRUE research.

It is my hope and prayer that one of these days, doctors will not feel so intimidated by a patient who has a larger fund of medical information/knowledge than they believe anyone, other than a doctor, should have. I believe the best medical care that can be given is when a doctor honestly confers with their patient about their medical condition and allows the patient to actively participate in their own care, believing that every patient has something to bring to the table.