Lesson 8: Web Resources

MedlinePlus Exercises

1. Health Topic Scenario: You have a client whose father was just diagnosed with lung cancer. She would like more information about this topic.

From the main page of MedlinePlus, click on Health Topics. Either click on “L” for lung cancer or go to the broad categories and click “cancer”. Find lung cancer on the list.

2. Drug Information Scenario: You have a client who was just prescribed Zoloft and he would like more information about the drug.

From the main page of MedlinePlus, click on Drug Information. Click on W-Z and scroll down to find Zoloft on the list.

3. Spanish Information Scenario: A client would like information for her husband about diabetes, but he only speaks Spanish.

From the main page of MedlinePlus, in the upper right hand corner, click on “Espanol”. Notice that this page has many (but not all) of the same sections of MedlinePlus in English.
For example:
Temas de Salud = Health Topics,
Medicinas = Drug Information,
Enciclopedia Medica = Medical Encyclopedia,
Tutoriales Interactivos = Interactive Tutorials,
Noticias = News.

If you have clients requesting information in Spanish, you can direct them to the Espanol version of the website. To find more information about Diabetes, click on Temas de Salud, then look under “D” for Diabetes or select it from the Temas Mas Solicitados (Most Requested Topics).

4. Dictionary Scenario: A client would like more information about fibromyalgia, but neither you nor she is sure how it’s spelled. She thinks it may be spelled either “fibromialga” or “fibromyalga”

Sometimes you will encounter a situation like this where a client would like a definition of a medical term. Sometimes the spelling of the word may be uncertain. You can use the Merriam Webster’s Medical Dictionary to assist you with this type of question.

From the main page of MedlinePlus, click on Dictionary. This will take you to the Merriam Webster’s Medical Dictionary. Since you are unsure of the exact spelling of this term, type in the first few letters (fibrom) followed by an asterisk (*). Find the appropriate word from the list (fibromyalgia) and click “Go”.

5. Tutorial Scenario: A client just found out that his 97 year old grandmother has blockage in her carotid arteries and that the doctors are going to perform a procedure called a carotid endarterectomy. He would like some more information for himself and for her to explain the procedure.

Tutorials provide information about several health topics in an interactive format. The tutorials are designed in an easy to understand format, with descriptions written in plain language, text also available in sound, and graphics accompanying the text.

From the main page of MedlinePlus, click on Interactive Tutorials, a link on the right hand side of the page. On the Interactive Tutorials page, you will find lists of tutorials about diseases and symptoms, tests and diagnostic procedures, surgery and treatment procedures, and prevention and wellness.

Web Resources
Next section:NC Health Info