Clearinghouse of Professional Information

Health and Medicine Resources

This section includes links to support our EXCEL courses, especially the collection development course and the on-line  "Electronic Sources of Information". Students can use this selection of links to complete their assignments. See also Health Resources On-line especially selected for youth.

The purpose of this section  is to provide access to a wide range of health and medical information, not to give medical advice or interpretation. Links to information provided on this page does not imply recommendation or endorsement. It is not a substitute for consultation with a health professional.

Topics include

General Resources | Search Engines and Directories

	indicates an item written by SOLS staff		indicates an item written by OLS-North staff
Clicking on certain topics will open a new window, if the link is to a topic included in an other Clearinghouse page

 General Resources

• Addictions: Web of Addictions. Fact sheets, links, notice of meetings, some in-depth coverage of specific topics 
• Alternative Medicine: for consumers, professionals, and students who would like to learn more about various forms of Alternative Health Care. It links to sources of information on unconventional, unorthodox, unproven, or alternative, complementary, innovative, integrative therapies.
• Alzheimer Society of Canada / La Société Alzheimer du Canada
• Caregiver.com The site for caregivers and seniors. Good "Be Informed" section.  
  On-line Medical Dictionary: + 15,000 terms from medicine and science
• Health Canada Online /Santé Canada en direct   (Health Canada / Santé Canada)
• Center for Disease Control and Prevention
• Complete Home Medical Guide: searchable general medical reference book (3^rd edition 1995)
• Computer related repetitive strain injury Lots of RSI information and links
• Consumer Health Information Service (Metropolitan Toronto Reference Library)
• Diagnostic Procedures
• Drugs - RX List Searchable by brand, generic name.
• Global Health Network An alliance of experts in health and tecommunications who are actively developing the architecture for a health information structure for the prevention of disease in the 21st Century.
• Health Care Information Resources - McMaster University
• HealthGate
• Health Square: a women's health information center, committed to providing free access to high quality medical and healthcare information , written for the lay person. Covers all the major health issues confronting women and their families today.
• Hospital Web A growing list of hospitals on the Web
• KidsHealth
• Martindale's Health Science Guide
• Med Help International Non-profit organization provides qualified medical information to patients and their families, non-technical terminology.
• MedicineNet A network of physician educators dedicated to providing up-to-date, quality medical information for the public. Includes dictionary, drug information, etc.
• Medicine OnLine Provides cancer-related educational content, discussions groups, etc.
• Mental Health Page (Dr. John Grohol)
• Mental Health Net
• Merck Manual Well-known diagnostic handbook. (16th ed. 1992). Must register (free). Not searchable, but a good index.
• ObGyn Net
• On-line Medical Dictionary: + 15,000 terms from medicine and science
• PDRhealth Drug Information The drug information on PDRhealth is written in lay terms and is based on the FDA-approved drug information found in the PDR. It gives consumers plain-English explanations for the safe and effective use of prescription and nonprescription drugs—explanations that are consistent with the information professionals are referencing in the PDR. Use this section to read about a drug your doctor may have prescribed to check for side effects, drug interactions, and other important information.
• PharmInfoNet: Pharmaceutical Information Network Features a searchable drug database.
• Primary Care Pediatrics Primary care pediatricians from Greater Toronto Area, affiliated with Uof T.
• SARS  (Center forDisease Control)
• SARS Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Health and Welfare Canada)
• Sympatico: Health & Fitness  
• Virtual Hospital Provides invaluable patient care support and distance learning to physicians and other healthcare professional as well as the general public.
• West Nile Virus Basics (Center for Disease Control)
  West Nile Virus Q&A (Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care)
• Women's Health Matters Network. Resources (Sunnybrook and Womens' College Health Sciences Centre)  
• World-Wide-Web Virtual Library (Biosciences)
• Yahoo! Health

Search Engines and Directories

• Access Place Health Daily health news, fitness tips, general medicine resources ...
• Canadian Health Network CHN is a national, non-profit, bilingual web-based health information service. CHN's goal is to help Canadians find the information they're looking for on how to stay healthy and prevent disease.  This network of health information providers includes Health Canada and national and provincial/territorial non-profit organizations, as well as universities, hospitals, libraries and community organizations.
• Canadian Nursing Index  Comprehensive guide to Canadian nursing resources on the Internet. I.E. Canadian hospitals organised by province, nursing humour, links to health resources, nursing news, and journals.
• Fitness Jumpsite: annotated, categorized and searchable directory of hundreds of fitness and health-related Web pages and resources, plus library of full-text articles on all the topics. Includes sports, nutrition, kid fitness, adventure, martial arts, equipment, resorts, etc.
• Hardin Meta Directory of Internet Health Sources(University of Iowa) A good place to start for comprehensive listings.
• Illness: Health Care Information Resources for patients, their families, friends and health care workers. Compiled by Tom Flemming. McMaster U)
• KidsHealth
• Medical Matrix: searchable, annotated, rated directory of Internet clinical medicine resources. Fill out free registration form
• Medical World Search a subscription-based web site providing searching in full text of nearly 100,000 Web pages from thousands of SELECTED medical sites
• MedlinePlus Health information from the National Library of Medicine
• P.O.W.E.R. Surfers: patients online for well-being, education & research. Includes a directory of cancer-related Web sites. These sites have been selected on the basis of the integrity of the institutions and agencies which developed and maintain the sites, as well as the usefulness of the site to the average visitor. This Directory also includes a number of Web sites which might contribute to a patient's sense of well-being.
• Proteus Health Search +: search health/medical services and directories as PubMed, Healthfinder.gov, HealthWeb, NOAH and access a select number of relevant sites.
• Public Health Agency of Canada Beginning April 1, 2008, Canadians will be able to access timely, trusted and credible public health information through a single source - the Public Health Agency of Canada’s Web site.

   (as of March 6, 2008)