On-line resources for pediatricians
S. A. Spooner
Department of Internal Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, Mo, USA.
BACKGROUND: Medical information is increasingly available on computer
networks. OBJECTIVES: To familiarize the pediatrician with some of the
terms associated with these on-line resources, and to describe what is
available via the Internet and dial-up computer bulletin boards. DATA
SOURCES: Information for this article was taken from publicly available
on-line services and Internet servers. DATA EXTRACTION: Only resources
relevant to pediatric practice were included. DATA SYNTHESIS: Medical
information on the Internet is in a state of evolution. Useful resources
for pediatricians are sparse but expanding rapidly. CONCLUSIONS:
Pediatricians may use on-line computer networks to communicate. Familiarity
with computer networks will become more important to pediatricians as
electronic medical records, on-line medical literature, and telemedicine
(the practice of medicine over long distances) become more common. Medical
libraries and commercial on-line services are good places to begin to
investigate the availability of medical information over computer networks.
