G'day team,
Just a quick post about some of the best resources for exploring medical conditions. Remember your first line for any medical concern is your GP or Emergency Department.
So we've all done it, gone to WebMD thrown in a few symptoms and found out we've four types of cancer and died four weeks ago from severe bleeding on the brain! The thing about WebMD is it's a 'for everyone' resource for understanding potential explanations for medical conditions. As such they have to do two rather counterproductive things...
- They have to cover their ass, so everything you type in will come out with a list of life-threatening possibilities (no matter how unlikely)... usually cancer.
- They have to communicate at a level everyone can understand. This means people who might not have a strong education or Eglish as their first language.
But if you're interested in understanding a specific medical condition, what causes them and who gets them, then WebMD can be rather disappointing. As such I've compiled a few resources I've found useful. Some of the following resources are extremely useful and often used by doctors, nurses and allied health professionals to study or refresh their knowledge (note some of these require subscriptions)....
Medscape - General
Up To Date - General
Life in the Fast Lane - Emergency Medicine Blog
PubMed - Journal Search Network
Medline - General and Symptoms Checker
Radiopaedia - Imaging Resource
Best Practice - An Advanced Tool to Support Medical Professionals
Merck Manual - Great for Articles
Thanks team
-tfc
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webmd = ridiculous visits. Patient presented to me (in the ED) with chronic anosmia.... sir what are you worried about? Cancer. Sir what kind? I dunno check me for cancer. Sir... checking you for "cancer" as the cause of your chronic anosmia is best managed by your primary care doctor. Have a nice day.
#Ihatewebmd
Patients literally have no idea what an ED is for sometimes. I've seen multiple presentations for sick certificates... we just make them wait 4+ hours in the waiting room. Triage 5 and bring in everyone else first.
I've started asking what their emergency is. Needing a pregnancy test is not an emergency. My favorite time of the year is around Passover when I get to ask "why is this night different than all other nights"