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Jackie Pham Instructor: Malcolm Campbell English (1102) Jan. 22 201! Topic Proposal: The Hazards of Medical Information Online Introduction/Overview "he topic that I ha#e selecte$ is Me$ical In%ormation online. Me$icine has al&a's been an essential part' o% societ'. It allo&s us to li#e longer an$ longer as &e get more a$#ance$. (s &e get more a$#ance$ more an$ more people use the internet. (ccor$ing to an in%ographic create$ b' )ator Crossing *there are 2 !0+ +1, -./ internet users in the &orl$0. "hat is an astonishing amount1 2ith this man' users in%ormation about me$icine starte$ to sho& up online. Popular &ebsites such as 2ebM3 Me$icine4et an$ 5ealthline starte$ to pro#i$e internet users &ith me$ical in%ormation on ho& to treat their illness. "his me$ical in%ormation sho&e$ the rea$er &hat s'mptoms correlate$ &ith &hat illness the' &ere e6periencing. *(ccor$ing to a recent report %rom the Pe& research center ,07 o% Internet users ha#e looke$ up health in%ormation online0. "hat is appro6imatel' 1.8 billion people &ho look up me$ical in%ormation online that is a large amount. 2ith to$a'9s technologic a$#ance I &ill be e6amining the bene%its o% Me$ical In%ormation an$ the potential risk as &ell. I researche$ this in%ormation %irst b' googling risk an$ bene%its me$ical in%ormation online. :rom there I sa& lots o% articles poste$ on popular ne&s &ebsites such as Cnn ;ahoo an$ <sato$a'. E#er since I &as 'oung m' parents &oul$ o%ten re%er to her %rien$s or relati#es on ho& to treat certain $iseases or illness. 2e ne#er actuall' use$ health in%ormation online so this topic

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reall' intereste$ me. I begin &ith asking m' mom i% she ha$ e#er use$ the internet to look up me$ical in%ormation. =he imme$iatel' respon$e$ &ith a big no she belie#es that it is too risk' an$ she >ust simpl' $oesn9t trust the internet. "his got me thinking about the possible $angers o% me$ical in%ormation online. ?ut I also &ante$ to kno& i% the bene%its out&eighe$ the risk. (s I &as researching the bene%its an$ risk I came across a %orum page calle$ ;ahoo @oices. "his page allo&s real li%e people to e6press their thoughts on all this Me$ical In%ormation online. (%ter rea$ing through se#eral o% their comments I notice$ that this topic &as #er' complicate$. ?oth si$es ha#e reasonable #ie&points. :or e6ample the people &ho belie#e$ it &as bene%icial claime$ that ha#ing this in%ormation online sa#e$ the patients9 hun$re$s o% $ollars &aste$ on a $octor9s #isit &hen the' can >ust research the illness an$ bu' o#er the counter $rugs. 2hile the other si$e counter argues an$ sa's that people ma' o#ersimpli%' their illness an$ it coul$ lea$ to serious harm. I ha#e not been able to %in$ an article that has the perspecti#e o% $octor9s opinions on this article but I hope to %in$ one in the near %uture.

Initial Inquiry Question s! 3o %reAuent #ie&ers o% me$ical in%ormation online ten$ to catch the illness more easil' againB Can all illnesses be e6amine$ onlineB 5o& can rea$ers $etermine the cre$ibilit' o% the article that the' are rea$ingB 2hat i% the article the' are rea$ing is %alse an$ coul$ cause them serious harmB 2ho &oul$ the' blame thenB My Interest in this Topic I am intereste$ in this topic greatl' because I am currentl' stu$'ing in the me$ical %iel$ an$ hope to get a >ob in the %iel$ in the %uture. 5o&e#er not onl' I am intereste$ in this because it pertains to m' career but a lot o% m' %amil' members get me$ical in%ormation %rom the internet an$ I &ante$ to kno& i% it &as sa%e. I &ant to learn about the potential risk an$ bene%its o% health in%ormation online. Cno&ing about these risk &ell help me to tell m' patients an$ %amil'

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members to re%rain or keep using the me$ical in%ormation online. I $o not kno& too much about me$ical in%ormation online. "he onl' thing I kno& is that there are a lot o% internet users in the &orl$ an$ there is also a lot o% health in%ormation online. =o there must be some sort o% risk or bene%it. I% I research that the risk out&eighs the bene%its I $e%initel' &ill %in$ a &a' to thro& out a big message to internet users an$ to m' %amil' as &ell. "e#t $teps (%ter con$ucting some research online about m' topic I am hoping that 2ebM3 &ill respon$ to an email that &ill Auestion the cre$itabilit' o% their &ebsite. I am &on$ering i% some o% the authors that post in%ormation are $octors or $i$ the' get all their in%ormation %rom te6tbooks. "his is #er' essential to m' research because it coul$ allo& me to e6amine the possible risks o% me$ical in%ormation online. =econ$l' I &oul$ like to con$uct an inter#ie& on m' %amil' $octor an$ his #ie&points about Me$ical In%ormation online. I belie#e it is al&a's important to look at an argument %rom both si$es so inter#ie&ing the $octor &ell help me a lot. 5o&e#er I must also inter#ie& one o% m' %amil' members &ho has been using online me$ical in%ormation to anal'De his illness %or 'ears no&. I kno& he is all %or me$ical in%ormation online but I &oul$ like to ask ho& it &orks an$ i% it9s e#er cause$ him an' harm ph'sicall' or internall'. $ources: Cnn.com ;ahoo.com )oogle.com @oices.'ahoo.com "hecuturist.com 2ebM3.com

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