Website reviews: WebMD.com – Part 3

WebMD.com is a highly recognizable and well-known resource that both consumers and health care practitioners use for referencing medical and health information. A review of the website was both interesting and time consuming as I wandered in and out of a long winding path into the many and varied features and functions of the site. WebMD is educational, current on issues, and a valuable tool for health assessment.

The homepage layout is busy and filled with an abundance of information, but it is well organized so that you don’t feel overwhelmed. You may, however, get lost in the wealth of eye-catching information if you’re not focused on finding specific information. You could easily spend a couple of hours perusing WebMD.com.

As you would expect, since it’s a medical information website, many are looking for pertinent information on diseases, medical conditions or issues, and to get the latest updates on medication and diets. Writers benefit from this information also as they find a surplus of information to supply an article with support of ideas and point of view.

The website information is divided into seven distinct categories and navigation is by clicking on the tabs at the top of the page.

*Home: The homepage that gives a sampling of what you will find throughout the site. It includes links to blogs, news and other items of interest. You’ll find something to peak your interest on this page.

*Health A-Z: Lists health terms A-Z and health guides to healthy living, medical tests, drugs and tools for your use. Like the homepage, here you’ll find news and articles that can lure you away from this page.

*Drugs & Treatments: If you want to find a drug or an over the counter medication and information pertaining to it, a search window is available on this page. You will also find FDA warnings and other warnings and news about drugs.

*Women: Health, love, stress, lifestyle and specific issues that are all about women’s health is found in this section. Top articles dealing with a wide assortment of issues are highlighted. News and links to boards and blogs are accessed from this page.

*Men: Sex, stress, and medical conditions and symptoms that men experience, and how they affect relationships are here. If you ever wondered why men don’t see their doctors regularly, check out this page.

*Children’s Health: All kinds of great information dealing with health, fitness and emergencies can be found in this section. Read about parenting and pregnancy and get your questions answered here also.

*News & Blogs: This section supplies you with news and more great information as well as boards where you can post comments or questions. Find support groups here. Read blogs and gain knowledge through the experience of others who have battled the same issues as you. Election 08 is in this section where you can find the US Presidential candidates stand and philosophy on health care.

I have one complaint about the website and that is the fact that pop-up ads are allowed on the site. Simply close them and they’ll go away.

There you have the seven major categories of information on WebMD.com. It contains a wealth of information that can help you find answers to your inquiries. I didn’t find it to be as precise or as well organized as the Mayo Clinic website, but it provides information that is timely and important to health, lifestyles, and medical issues of today.