1. NPR Health Care Forum- This is just a forum of different health care topics ranging from insurance to nomacosial infection risks during hospital stays. I feel like this site provides non-biased articles on different health issues, the main one obviously being health care reform. At the bottom of the page there are also audio files to listen to for the multitasking student.
2. NY Times Health Care Conversations- As a premed student, I found the NY Times health care conversations perhaps one of the most useful tools in preparing for a career in the health care field. An issue is introduced where any person can respond with their opinion or personal experience regarding that issue. I feel that the responses to these issues come from a more diverse group of people than the NPR site (doctors, lower class, middle class, elders, etc).
3. Women's Health- When I googled "women's health", there were about 49 million results. I looked at about ten of them and chose this one because they all more or less presented the same information. It seems that most of them were aimed towards a middle-class, somewhat educated population. I chose this particular website because of its vast array of resources; it includes publications, different campaigns and causes regarding women's health, and topics ranging from pregnancy medications to depression.
4. Men's Health- I saw this site as a parallel to the women's health site above, except easier to navigate, probably just due to the organization of the page. I also found a broader range of topics including traveling health, HIV and syphilis among the bisexual and gay population, and cardiovascular disease.
5. Dan Savage Column- Sexual health- One question that always comes to mind regarding one's sexual behavior is "Is this normal?" or "Is this okay?". Dan Savage is a sex columnist and author of several books including Skipping Towards Gomorrah and The Commitment: Love, Sex, Marriage, and My Family. Adults with relationship problems, bedroom issues, and everything in between write to Dan Savage for advice. This page also provides links to other columnists and experts if you want a second opinion as well as a feedback tool for the public.
6. Sexual Education for teens- I liked this sex education website a lot because it seems to be managed by young adults/teens. It's geared toward a younger audience who may be thinking about having sex or aware of changes in their body and behavior. Information on reproduction, STDs, and even body image are all present as well as chat forums. Topics also reach out to issues on abuse/violence and emotional health, which is really important. Since it is run by younger people, this website makes it more comfortable for the younger population to share and express their concerns on these important issues.
7. Center for Disease Control and Prevention- I mainly chose this source for its epidemiology, or the incidence and prevalence of disease within certain populations. Diseases have their own site with issues surrounding that particular disease. For example, only one class of antibiotics can treat gonorrhea due to its growing antibiotic resistance. One can find statistics in their region and track the progress of the disease over time.
8. Mental Health- I thought this page provided some good resources on mental health issues (mainly regarding the U.S. population). Depression seems to be more prevalent than ever in our culture. I think understanding depression, how it is caused, and how to find solutions to overcoming it without heavy doses of anti-depressants is extremely important. I found the research articles on depression and other mental diseases pretty useful and free from drug advertisements.
9. Diet and physical fitness-Promoting a healthy lifestyle is an important issue on avoiding preventable diseases such as some cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. This site provides the facts relating unhealthy diets to chronic disease and deaths. It also gives an overview of how to promote physical activity and wellness on a global level, and specific to different cultures.
10. Michael Pollan Articles- After reading the WSU common reading book, the Omnivore's dilemma by Michael Pollan, I started following his articles on his site. His writes about and comments on diet and the way a country processes and grows its food has a direct impact on its population's health. I think his experiences and research are worth reading and at least investigating.
11. Global Health Education- There are quite a few global health education organizations. I think the Global Health through Education, Training and Service is an good overall source for the subject since it is well organized and easy to navigate. The organization's main goals are to promote small local changes in developing areas, and raise well-trained and educated health care workers in that area.
12. Global Health Children- UNICEF stands for Unite for Children, and is an international organization aimed at improving the welfare of children through health care and education. I really enjoy the way this page is set up, and I especially appreciate the different forms of media the site provides. It's an overall great source if one wants to get involved with a child-related cause, good articles and videos on issues from emergency relief to disease prevention from a variety of sources.
13. Global Health Aid- Instead of focusing on broad global health aid, I decided to narrow down my source to HIV/AIDS aid. From my previous posts, I have cited the WHO page before. I think one of the most important aspects in improving global health is staying informed of what is going on in geographical areas of interest, both epidemiologically and politically. This page provides epidemiological facts as well as several campaigns going on in different areas, and how to get involved with them.
14. Natural Medicine Overview- I only started doing research on osteopathic/natural medicine when investigating medical schools a while back. I found this site really useful since it provides a lot of legitimate information on other types of treatments including yoga, acupuncture, and diet. I don't really think of natural medicine as an alternative to allopathic medicine, but rather as an additive to allopathic medicine since it promotes changes in lifestyle in opposition to temporary treatment with pharmaceuticals.
15. Natural Medicine Youth- This is a more basic site for youth on natural medicine. It's really easy to navigate and the topics covered range from mental health to drugs and alcohol. An important but basic key to reaching out to youth is presenting information in a way that youth can understand, and want to understand. Even though I'm a little older as a teen, I can definitely see the appeal this site has to a younger audience.
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