Whether you are a medical malpractice attorney looking for general information on a particular disease or a consumer looking for board certification information on a specific physician, there are many free medical sites on the Internet that can supply the information you need. But beware.

Before you rely on information from any Internet site, you must evaluate the site. This is especially true with medical information. Is the information accurate? Who is supplying the information and are they qualified to do so? Is the site objective or does it represent the viewpoint of one of its sponsors? Is the information current and is it complete?

A good feature to look for on a medical information Web site is the HON Code icon. This is supplied by the Health on the Net Foundation, a nonprofit international health and medical foundation based in Geneva, whose mission isto guide both the lay user and the medical professional to reliable sources of healthcare information on the Internet. If a web site displays the HON Code icon, it has proved that it follows the eight principles comprising the HON Code of Conduct for medical and health web sites (www.hon.ch/HONcode/Conduct.html).

These principles include the following requirements:

The Web site must clearly indicate the source of its information and that the information is not a substitute for a doctor/patient relationship.

The Web site must provide a clear statement of its sponsorship.

The Web site must clearly display contact information to allow a web visitor to contact the webmaster.

Many medical sites follow their own guidelines, which may be similar to the HON Code. These guidelines are usually found on the "About Us" link located on the Web site's home page. If you do not find an HON Code icon on a site, check a site's own guidelines to ensure the quality and reliability of any information found on or through that site.

Disease Information

There are many good Web sites to use to obtain general information about a disease or condition. Among the best are HealthWeb, MayoClinic.com, Information from your Family Doctor and WebMD.

HealthWeb (healthweb.org) is a collaborative project of the health sciences libraries of the Greater Midwest Region of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine and those of the Committee for Institutional Cooperation. It provides access to evaluated non-commercial health related Internet sites and contains an extensive medical subject guide on the home page.

MayoClinic.com (www.mayoclinic.com) is provided by the well-respected Mayo Clinic. It is another good place to start your medical research.

You can search this site for keyword(s) or browse a lengthy list of diseases and conditions.

A third site for general medical information is Information from your Family Doctor (familydoctor.org), which is provided by the American Academy of Family Physicians. It strives to provide health information to the whole family - children, adults, and seniors.

WebMD (my.webmd.com) is provided by WebMD Corp. It prides itself on being a health and medical information "National Newscenter." The diseases and conditions page provides general information as well as current news about each of the medical conditions listed.

General Information

Other reference sites useful for obtaining general medical information are HealthSquare, the Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy, Human Anatomy Online, and MedTerms.com.

HealthSquare (www.healthsquare.com/hspage2.html) is provided by New Media Systems Inc. It supplies the full text of the PDR Family Guide to Prescription Drugs, the PDR Encyclopedia of Medicine, and the PDR Family Guide to Women's Health. The Web site can be searched or the conditions and treatments list can be browsed.

The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy (www.merck.com/mrkshared/mmanual/home.jsp) is the online version of the "Merck Manual." It can be searched by keyword or the table of contents can be browsed.

Human Anatomy Online (www.innerbody.com) is provided by INTELLIMED International Corp.. When you access the home page and click on the picture of the human body, you are given 10 different graphics of various body systems (i.e. muscle, skeletal, reproductive). To obtain information about a particular body part, choose the appropriate graphic, run the cursor over the graphic and click on the "Pick Point" that corresponds to the body part that you are interested in. You will obtain a description of the body part as well as a magnified image of the part.

MedTerms.com (www.medterms.com/Script/Main/hp.asp) is provided by MedicineNet Inc. It was written entirely by physicians and was designed to be of use to both health professionals and consumers. You can search for a term or browse the list of defined terms. In many cases, the definitions are longer and more detailed than a usual dictionary entry and are thus more encyclopedic in nature.

Medical Search Engines

Another way to locate medical information is to use asearch engine created specifically for searching medical Web sites. Four good ones are Achoo Healthcare Online, Hardin Meta Directory of Internet Health Sources, Healthfinder, and Health AtoZ.

Achoo Healthcare Online (www.achoo.com/main.asp) is provided by MNI Systems Corp.. This site was developed for consumers, medical professionals, and individuals involved in the business aspect of healthcare. You can use Achoo as a search directory to link to other medical Web sites which cover the topic that you are interested in or you can use Achoo as a search engine to link to other medical Web sites that contain your search terms.

Hardin Meta Directory of Internet Health Sources (www.lib.uiowa.edu/hardin/md/) is provided by the Hardin Library for the Health Sciences at the University of Iowa. This site contains an extensive and well-organized list of medical topics. Each topical list of links has been evaluated by an expert in that particular field.

Healthfinder (www.healthfinder.gov) is a consumer health information Web site, which was developed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It links to a multitude of sites including federal, state and local government sites, university sites and public interest organization sites.

Health AtoZ (www.healthatoz.com), provided by Medical Network Inc., contains information on diseases and conditions and also on diagnostic tests and procedures.

Info on Doctors

Two sites that provide credential type information on physicians are the American Medical Association's Doctor Finder site and the American Board of Medical Specialties site. The AMA's site (www.ama-assn.org/aps/amahg.htm) is a searchable database which covers "virtually" every licensed physician in the United States - not just AMA members and not just doctors of medicine . Doctors of Osteopathy are also covered.

The minimum amount of information supplied is the physician's office address, medical school, graduation date and primary practice specialty. More detailed information is given on AMA members than on non-members.

The ABMS's site (www.abms.org) can be searched in two ways. A general search can be done on a physician to determine whether he/she is board certified and in what specialty.

The site also links to each individual specialty board. Some boards allow you to search online to obtain more detailed information about the physician's credentials. Some boards will not supply the information online but will give instructions on how to obtain the information (i.e. send a written request with payment to the board).

For example, the American Board of Pediatrics allows you to obtain the certification information online for free. The American Board of Pathology requires a written request with payment.

This article has covered some useful sites for obtaining general medical information and for accessing information on a physician's credentials, as well as ways to evaluate these sites. The second part of this article will discuss other medical sites useful for retrieving more specific types of health and medical information.