Creating your own medical Internet library

MANY PHYSICIANS STRUGGLE TO KEEP UP WITH NEW DEVELOPMENTS in their fields. The In-ternet can provide a solution to this problem by allowing rapid access to a broad spectrum of reliable information. Becoming familiar with a few clinically relevant and freely available medical resources on the World Wide Web may enhance a physician’s efforts to provide evidence-based care on a daily basis. This article out-lines a simple strategy for physicians to make the Internet a useful tool. Keeping up to date is one of the greatest challenges facing today’s clinicians.The translation of recent clinical research into practice is slow, despite theready availability of published data.1 Although traditional, didactic continu-ing medical education (CME) events remain popular as educational tools, their im-pact in altering practice patterns has been disappointing.2 The Internet provides in-stant access to the most current medical literature through MEDLINE and online journals, clinical practice guidelines, systematic reviews and resource lists. It has be-come a welcome resource for a growing number of physicians, and there is justifi-able optimism that it may represent the missing link between research and practice.3 However, even though the CMA’s 1997 Physician Resource Questionnaire foun