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.
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- 1. Cocco AM, Zordan R, Taylor DM, et al. Dr Google in the ED: searching for online health information by adult emergency department patients. Med J Aust 2018; 209: 342-347.
- 2. Thompson A. Hippocrates and the smart phone: the evolving parent and doctor relationship. J Paediatr Child Health 2016; 52: 366-369.
- 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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