The Internet: an essential tool for college health networking

With the advent of the Internet, college health professionals have available to them a new setting in which to network. The Internet provides opportunities for immediate communication with a large and diverse community of colleagues. Through both the Student Health Service (SHS) Discussion Group and numerous health-related databases, the Internet serves as a powerful research tool for program development and improvement. Answers to queries about practice options, solutions for local problems, and support of innovative policies can be received almost instantaneously from college health professionals from across the United States and Canada. In this article, the authors summarize the history and current use of the SHS Discussion Group, provide a brief overview of Internet basics, and identify more advanced uses of the Internet by college health professionals.