Undoubtedly, the world wide web has become a very important source of information.One can gather information even on complicated medical conditions. Patients have always turned to the net for information.But,can doctors too benefit from the internet? Apparently, yes!
Many doctors, especially trainees, admit resorting to Google search when faced with challenging situations or diagnosing illnesses.A recent test, conducted by Hangwi Tang and his colleagues at Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane, shows how the Internet is fast becoming a medical tool They selected 26 illnesses whose symptoms many doctors found difficult to diagnose, and allocated them to teams for searching in Google. The results were then compared with the correct diagnosis. It was found that the searchers were correct in 15 out of 26 cases, which is 58 percent.
'Web-based search engines such as Google are becoming the latest tools in clinical medicine, and doctors in training need to become proficient in their use,' Tang is reported to have said in the British Medical Journal.
Source-Medindia
SRM/ASH/L
