The Internet for Louisiana physicians

Fewer than 50% of Louisiana physicians actively use the Internet, and many of them confine their usage to e-mailing among family and friends. The purpose of this article is to acquaint the reader with many of the benefits of exploiting the incredible potential of this technological invention. I provide addresses and information about sites that I believe warrant usage by our colleagues. Of the vast smorgasbord of data available we highlight educational Web sites for professionals and the public, how to determine credibility of information, clinical research of scientific articles, computer security, federal and state government sites, newspapers, political and socioeconomic functions, medical supply shops, e-mail and other computerized communication, electronic medical records, personal or professional Web sites, and future medical internet uses. It is hoped that this process will encourage nonparticipating colleagues to begin using this modality while also supplying sites that current users may not yet have discovered.