Patient Education Websites

Below is a list of the world’s top websites for Patient Education, as selected by a committee of physicians from the Center for Primary Care and Patient Education. This list is meant to aid both patients and medical staff. As with all health information, diagnosis and management plans should always be made together with a qualified health care professional.

Primary Care

• MedlinePlus — by National Institutes of Health, USA
• Familydoctor.org — by the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP).
• Mayoclinic.com — a collection of articles from the Mayo Clinic
• National Health Service, UK
• UpToDate Patient Information -– from the UpToDate group, considered the medical world’s most esteemed source for medical information.

Pediatrics

• Healthy Children – by American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)
• Familydoctor.org — by the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP).
• CDC Vaccine Information – from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control
• CDC Parents – from the US CDC.
• Children’s Health –- from MedlinePlus, part of the US NIH

Health calculators

• Cardiovascular Risk/Age Calculator
• Body Mass Index (BMI) Calculator
• Diabetes Risk Calculator
• Asthma: Peak flow calculator

Decision aids

• Mayo Clinic SharedDecisions— an overview of decision aids for shared decision-making between patients and physicians.
• Mayo Clinic Statin Decision Aid— this tool will help you and your doctor discuss how you might want to reduce your risk for heart attacks.
• Mayo Clinic Diabetes Decision Aid— this guide provides information on medications commonly used to treat type-2 diabetes.
• Mayo Clinic Osteoporosis Decision Aid— this tool will help you and your doctor discuss how you might want to reduce your risk for bone fractures.

Diabetes

• Diabetes.org — from the American Diabetes Association

Natural medicines and supplements

• Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database — evidence-based reviews of all major herbals and supplements
• National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine— by the U.S. government’s National Institute of Health.
• ConsumerLab –- independent testing of vitamins, herbals and supplements.
• MedlinePlus Herbs and Supplements — by the US NIH

Travel

• CDC Travel Site — up to date reviews of every country, from the US Centers for Disease Control

Nursing

• www.muruhui.org – Chinese Le Leche League