The Internet does a great job of providing excellent medical resources. For example, MedlinePlus is an excellent gateway site and is worth a detailed look.
It's difficult to find good information on doctors, but we've collected a number of websites that offer information in the physician directories category. The American Medical Association (AMA) Physician Select and the American Board of Medical Specialties are good places to start.
For drug information, Skokie Public Library offers access to the Physicians' Desk Reference Electronic Library in the Library and to Skokie Public Library cardholders via the Internet. The other drug information websites also provide detailed information on prescription and over-the-counter medication.
Web resource 
Available with Skokie Public Library card 
Available in Library only
General Health Sites
Aetna InteliHealth
With Harvard Medical School's Consumer Health Information, InteliHealth provides information on diseases, offers suggestions for healthy lifestyles, and includes features such as a "Symptom Scout," a medical dictionary, a drug resource section, and an "Ask the Expert" section.
cancer.gov
The National Cancer Institute website includes information about treatment options, clinical trials, reducing cancer risks, coping with cancer, support resources, financial assistance, educational materials, and more.
Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention
Click on "Health Topics A-Z" to find an excellent collection of medical information.
CenterWatch Clinical
Trials Listing Service
This website provides information for ongoing clinical trials and listings of research centers that specialize in various illnesses.
Consumer Health Complete from EBSCOhost
Consumer Health Complete includes the contents of more than 250 health reference books, reports, pamphlets, images, and videos. It also contains the text of more than 550 health related journals and magazines.
Disability Resources from Skokie Public Library
This list of disability resources on the Internet has been selected by Skokie Public Library librarians. Browse this collection of web links to find information about adaptive technology, resources for the hearing- and vision-impaired, ADA-affiliated resources, and general resources for people with disabilities.
eMedicine Consumer
Health
This site contains articles written and reviewed by physicians for patients and consumers, and covers diseases, syndromes, injuries, drugs, and more.
Health Information in Multiple Languages from MedlinePlus
This site provides quality medical information geared to the consumer in 40 languages from Amharic to Vietnamese.
Health Learning Center of Northwestern Memorial Hospital
This site provides free access to approximately thirty Thomson Gale eBooks to people throughout the metropolitan area. For access to the eBooks, click on “virtual library,” enter your zip code, and click the “check” button. The Center’s website also has information about diseases, drugs, surgeries, tests, symptoms, nutrition, and an email link to send tough health reference questions to one of its medical librarians.
HealthAtoZ.com
HealthAtoZ.com offers access to consumer health and medical information and to a rated directory of health and medical Internet sites. Other resources include several interactive tools such as personal immunization records and check-up calendars.
healthfinder
healthfinder® is a free gateway to reliable consumer health information developed by the United States Department of Health and Human Services.
Mayo Clinic Health Information
This site provides current and reliable information on all areas of health and medicine. Medical news is posted each weekday, and an "Answers from Mayo Clinic" feature provides answers to questions in various medical specialties.
Medical Reference Books from Gale
Search the full contents of more than forty reference books in the fields of medicine and biological sciences. Titles include Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine, Gale Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine, Encyclopedia of Public Health, Encyclopedia of Bioethics and Gale Encyclopedia of Surgery.
MedlinePlus
This site contains up-to-date, quality health care information from the world's largest medical library, the National Library of Medicine.
The Merck Manual
Home Edition
This online version of the Merck Manual offers diagnosis and therapy for thousands of conditions and diseases.
OncoLink
Browse this cancer resource from the University of Pennsylvania Abramson Cancer Center for information about prevention, support groups, clinical trials, and financial assistance.
Salem Health
Salem Health brings online access to Salem Press’ bestselling Magill’s Medical Guide. In its printed form, the current edition of the Guide has grown to five volumes and 3,500 pages. The Guide is a perfect mix of accessibility and depth, providing general readers with an authoritative reference source that helps bridge the gap between medical encyclopedias for professionals and popular self-help guides. It is an up-to-date and easy-to-use compendium of medical information suitable for student research as well as use by general readers, including patients and caregivers.
WebMD
WebMD offers consumers health and wellness information that is revised daily by medical professionals. Community forums are available dedicated to topics such as disease treatment and prevention, alternative medicine, diet and nutrition, emotional wellness, fitness, pregnancy, and other specialized areas.
Alternative Medicine
Natural Standard
Natural Standard: The Authority on Integrative Medicine contains data on complementary and alternative therapies. Included are sections on Foods, Herbs and Spices, Medical Conditions, a Symptom Checker, and a Nutrition Database. Material is compiled from contributors from more than one hundred eminent academic institutions. For each therapy covered by Natural Standard, a research team systematically gathers scientific data and expert opinions. Validated rating scales are used to evaluate the quality of available evidence. Information is incorporated into comprehensive monographs which are designed to facilitate clinical decision making. Natural Standard is impartial, and is not supported by any interest group, professional organization, or product manufacturer.
QuackWatch
A member of Consumer Federation of America, QuackWatch is a non-profit corporation whose purpose is to combat health-related frauds, myths, fads, and fallacies.
Children's Health
DrGreene.com
Dr. Greene, a board certified pediatrician, offers useful information for parents about childhood diseases, conditions, and stigma-related issues such as bedwetting and lice.
familydoctor.org
This user friendly site, operated by the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), provides information on conditions, injuries, and diseases along with various tools and guides to good health.
KeepKidsHealthy.com
This pediatric website covers a wide range of topics and contains useful parenting resources such as immunization schedules and growth charts.
KidsHealth
KidsHealth provides doctor-approved children's health information from before birth through adolescence. The site is divided into three separate age-appropriate areas: Parents, Kids, and Teens.
Drug Information
DrugDigest
DrugDigest contains detailed information on prescription drugs and herbal supplements
Drugs, Supplements, and Herbal Information
Search for prescription and over-the-counter drug information, along with herb and supplement information, at this MedlinePlus website.
Drugs.com
Drugs.com is a detailed guide to drug information. Resources include a pill identifier, a drug interactions checker, and an index that is searchable by drug name or condition.
Electronic
Orange Book
From the United States Food and Drug Administration, the Orange Book identifies drugs that have been approved by the FDA and their approval dates. Information is searchable by name, active ingredient, applicant holder, and applicant number.
Natural Standard
Natural Standard: The Authority on Integrative Medicine contains data on complementary and alternative therapies. Included are sections on Foods, Herbs and Spices, Medical Conditions, a Symptom Checker, and a Nutrition Database. Material is compiled from contributors from more than one hundred eminent academic institutions. For each therapy covered by Natural Standard, a research team systematically gathers scientific data and expert opinions. Validated rating scales are used to evaluate the quality of available evidence. Information is incorporated into comprehensive monographs which are designed to facilitate clinical decision making. Natural Standard is impartial, and is not supported by any interest group, professional organization, or product manufacturer.
RxList: The Internet Drug
Index
Browse or search this website to find information about prescription drugs.
Elder Care
Elders &
Family
From the Administration on Aging and National Institute on Aging to help connect people with information about aging, this directory includes names and contact information for organizations that provide information and resources relevant to the needs of older persons.
Hospitals, HMOs, and Nursing Homes
American Hospital Directory
The free section of this directory allows searches for information on hospitals across the United States including information on Medicare claims data, cost reports, and other public-use files.
America's Best Hospitals from U.S.
News & World Report
The annual edition of America's Best Hospitals which ranks over two hundred medical centers in seventeen specialties.
Hospital Compare
From the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, this site compares the quality of care for patients with particular medical conditions at hospitals across the country.
JCAHO Quality Check
From the Joint Commission for Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, use this website to search for and view accreditation reports for hospitals and other health care organizations across the United States.
Nursing Home Compare from Medicare.gov
This site provides detailed information about the past performance of every Medicare- and Medicaid-certified nursing home in the country. Other resources available are a Guide to Choosing a Nursing Home and Nursing Home Checklist.
Nursing Homes in Illinois from
the Illinois Department of Public Health
An overview of nursing homes in Illinois, this site offers a guide on How to Select a Nursing Home, Quarterly Reports of Nursing Home Violators, and a listing of Nursing Homes with No Certification Deficiencies.
Laboratory Tests
Descipher
Descipher assists in the interpretation of clinical laboratory tests by matching test results with conditions and diseases.
Lab Tests Online
This site provides up-to-date information on medical lab tests, test descriptions, and relevant tests for specific conditions and diseases.
Medical Dictionaries
MedicineNet.com: MedTerms
Dictionary
Written by physicians, the MedTerms Dictionary contains a considerable and constantly changing number of classical and contemporary medical terms.
Merriam-Webster Medical Dictionary via MedlinePlus
Search for medical terms in this online version of the Merriam-Webster Medical Dictionary.
Medical Journals
FreeMedicalJournals.com
This site provides information on medical journals that offer free access to their content via the web.
MEDLINE from OCLC
FirstSearch
From the National Library of Medicine, this index includes article summaries
and citations from 3,500 medical journals and links to some full text
articles.
Skokie Public Library's guide to this database available
PsycARTICLES
PsycARTICLES® contains more than 25,000 full text articles from over forty journals published by the American Psychological Association and allied organizations. Coverage includes general psychology and specialized basic, applied, clinical, and theoretical research in psychology.
PubMed
From the National Library of Medicine, PubMed's search service provides access to MEDLINE, PreMEDLINE, related databases, and links to participating online journals.
Medicare
Financial Ratings from Weiss
Financial Ratings from Weiss contains independent ratings of the financial stability of banks, credit unions, and insurance companies. A Medigap buyers guide recommends companies and gives prices customized to the age and place of residence of the person entering the data.
Illinois Insurance Facts: Medicare Supplement Insurance
This site provides information on Medicare and Medigap plans available in Illinois from the Illinois Department of Insurance.
Medicare: The Official
U.S. Government Site for People with Medicare
This is the official site for Medicare information. Resources include up-to-date information about Medicare coverage, a supplier directory, a nursing home directory, information about prescription drug assistance programs, and much more.
Physician Directories
American Board of Medical
Specialties
Click on "Who's Certified" to search a database of board certified physicians for their certification status, location by city and state, and specialty. Please note: the "Who's Certified" search service requires user registration.
DoctorFinder from the American Medical Association
From the American Medical Association, this directory of doctors includes brief biographical information.
Find a dentist from the American Dental Association
This directory of dentists allows users to search for a dentist by location and specialty. The site also includes a link to state and local dental societies.
MedlinePlus Directories: General Doctors and Dentists
This collection of databases and search tools is helpful for finding doctors, dentists, specialists, and other healthcare providers.
Physician Profile Search from the
Illinois Department of Professional Regulation
This database provides information on professionals who hold a professional license in the State of Illinois including physicians, nurses, chiropractors, therapists, and other healthcare workers.