Redefining the physician’s role in the era of online health information

Ieraci, Susan

doi:10.5694/mja18.00652

Topics

Information science

Emergency medicine

General medicine

Clinicians are no longer gatekeepers to privileged information, but rather interpreters, problem solvers, and advisers

Many readers will be accessing the MJA via the internet: on computers, laptops, phones, or tablets. It is therefore essential that we discuss and understand how the internet and social media are used by patients to find health information, as well as the influence that the medical profession might have on such online information.

Emergency medicine consultant, Sydney

Correspondence: sieraci@ozemail.com.au

Competing interests:

I am an executive member of Friends of Science in Medicine.

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3. Hartzband P, Groopman J. Untangling the web — patients, doctors, and the Internet. N Engl J Med 2010; 362: 1063-1066.

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