As a former registered nurse and freelance journalist for numerous health and medical articles, I have spent many, many hours online doing medical research. By medical research I mean everything from the fun casual topics like "lose those extra holiday pounds" to more serious undertakings like cerebral aneurysms and herniated discs. In addition to interviewing dozens of physicians, I have had to find my way around many websites.

Here is the most thorough guide I can think of to how to find the medical, health and wellness information on the web that you need for whatever you need it for - from researching your own symptoms, a loved one's condition, your own journalism piece or because you really want to know what the heck John Stamos was talking about on the last episode of ER.

The absolute "bible" of online health information, in my opinion, is www.webmd.com. This is a massive, yet easily searchable database of every medical condition that has so far been discovered, an equally informative directory of drugs and a convenient doctor and hospital finder. The information on this site is well researched and documented from reputable medical sources and journals.

WebMD has singlehandedly made it possible for patients to take responsibility for their health and become informed consumers. Many patients still find it easier to adapt the attitude that the doctor must always be right and it's impolite to question them. But in reality, if you can arrive at your doctor's office with at least a minimum of knowledge about your symptoms, other priorly diagnosed conditions, knowledge of your medications and medical history, you are doing a great service to yourself and the improved level of care that your doctor will now be able to provide, armed with this information. Webmd.com is the best 'default' health website I can think of in that regard.

I have also enjoyed perusing the health section of www.ivillage.com for a similarly vast directory of health topics. There is more of a wellness and holistic focus on Ivillage along with interactive features like blogs and health calculators too. As a big fan of wellness, healthy living and fitness, I personally enjoy the focus on health that ivillage brings to health online.

For more specific medical information and current research, I would recommend going back to internet basics and doing a google search of the topic you are looking for along with the word "journal", and the current year, which will ideally pull up recent research. If you want to be more specific, some of the bigger medical journals to try are Journal of the American Medical Association (known as JAMA), New England Journal of Medicine, and of course I am slightly biased toward the American Journal of Nursing (AJN). Most journal articles are not free, but with some clever cross referencing, I've managed to find repostings of journal articles elsewhere.

Here's to happy healthy website searching and good health.

Learn more about this author, Christine Whitmarsh.
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