Medical webwatch.

"I just want to run a few tests." It's one of the most common phrases that a patient will hear from you. Wouldn't it be ideal to check off the tests prescribed so that a patient could look them up online at home? Well now you can, with Lab Tests Online www.labtestsonline.org, the product of a unique collaboration of 15 professional societies representing the clinical laboratory community. It is a peer-reviewed, nonprofit, patient-centered source of information explaining what samples are required, why the tests are carried out, what the results mean, and answers to common questions. There are also treatises on all aspects of laboratory testing, including reference ranges and genetic testing. You can also order free promotional displays which they say are perfect for your waiting room.

Need to refresh your microbiology? Then visit Microbiology and Immunology Online http://www.med.sc.edu:85/book/welcome.htm for an online textbook of bacteriology, immunology, virology, parasitology, and mycology. The chapters of this book are derived from lectures given to second year medical students at the University of South Carolina Medical School. Each chapter in this attractive resource starts with teaching objectives, has enlargeable images and figures to accompany the text and ends with a quiz.

The University of Michigan Documents Center's Statistical Resources on the Web (Health) www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/sthealth.html has 34 health categories each providing short listings for outsourced statistical data. Also listed on the website are a multitude of non-medical categories offering sources for statistical data. This site is an ideal starting point to drill down for a particular statistic. But beware! Once you start delving into these categories it becomes almost obsessive.

The website of the Thrombosis Interest Group of Canada www.tigc.org/pages/enterdata.asp is designed to further education and research in the prevention and treatment of thrombosis. This series of practical treatment guidelines is written by Canadian healthcare professionals and covers the investigation and management of thromboembolic disease. With 19 categories, this is a comprehensive examination of all aspects of both diseases and interventions. It is an ideal way to keep up-to-date on this pervasive medical occurrence.

Bloody Easy: A Guide to Transfusion Medicine www.lhsc.on.ca/lab/bldbank/assets/bloodye.pdf is an excellent resource on blood transfusion, blood alternatives and transfusion reactions. It is published by Sunnybrook and Women's College Health Sciences Centre, Canada. The reference is designed for use as an educational tool, but also provides information for patients. Topics covered include red blood cells, components, risk charts, reactions, and applications in surgery and medicine. It is a beautifully clear and attractive 60 page PDF presentation. Hard copies are also available.

It is not often that I present a website where access has to be requested from the author, but the content of University of Newcastle Cyber Anatomy Tutorials http://anatome.ncl.ac.uk/tutorials/index.html is so good that it deserves dissemination. Until quite recently the website had open access to interactive human cadaver dissections, but because there may be changes to the law in the UK governing the displaying of anatomical images on the internet, the author (Dr. Donal Shanahan, prosector at the University of Newcastle) has been forced to restrict access to health professionals. Do not be misled by the relative paucity of tutorial information displayed on the home page, it is the "health professional" part of the site that has some remarkable teaching pages illustrating various dissections. I urge you to request access to the whole website by contacting Dr. Shanahan via this page: http://anatome.ncl.ac.uk/tutorials/403.htm.

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