Psychiatric Resources Bountiful in Ever-Growing Cyberspace
With a few strokes of the keyboard, psychiatrists can surf the Web for jobs, CME courses, and professional journal articles, to name a few of the many online options.
Wading through Web sites for psychiatry-related information can be time consuming, however. To narrow the search, medical informatics expert Rima Styra, M.D., described the highlights of several relevant Web sites at APA's 1998 annual meeting in Toronto in June (see end for Web addresses).
Styra is the director of medical informatics and an assistant professor of psychiatry at Toronto General Hospital in Ontario.
Literature Sites
Association/Institutional Sites
- APA: Viewers will find a vast array of information and resources that will keep them up to date on legislative, research, and clinical issues of importance to psychiatry. APA membership and governance information and a calendar of events are posted for easy reference. Also accessible is the online version of Psychiatric News, from March 1, 1996, to the present.
APA members with e-mail addresses can communicate with each other through list-serves about any concerns or topics of interest. Currently there are two list serves, one for all categories of APA members and one specifically for members-in-training.
A CME audio/slide program, "New Clinical Approaches for Treating Anxiety and Depression" is now available for CME credit and supported by an unrestricted educational grant from Bristol-Myers Squibb.
American Psychiatric Press Inc. (APPI) features an index to journals, books, and electronic products published by APPI and includes an order form. A unique feature is the Electronic Library, available on CD-ROM, which contains the complete text and graphics of 10 psychiatric journals, 15 seminal texts, and APA Practice Guidelines.
- Canadian Psychiatric Association: This site offers access to a French version. Members have free access to MEDLINE, among other benefits.
- American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry: A unique feature is a managed care complaint registry in the practice parameters section. The complaints are being collected for lobbying purposes.
- The National Institute of Mental Health: Information on mental disorders and other resources is available to the public in English and Spanish. A news and events section features a list of current meetings and conferences and future meeting announcements. A section on NIMH grants and contracts includes information on grant applications and review, RFAs and RFPs, access to NIH grants policy, and the NIH Guide to Grants and Contracts. The research activities section lists clinical studies, the human brain project, AIDS research, a suicide research consortium, and genetics and mental disorders research. Researchers can recruit patients for their clinical studies online.
- American Psychoanalytic Association: A virtual bookshop features access to books by topics, members who are authors, and a list of recent books (1997) by title and author. Books can be purchased online through the Internet bookstore Amazon.com at . Viewers can search a large bibliography of psychoanalytic journal articles, books, and book reviews.
- The New York University Department of Psychiatry: Its Web site offers seven interactive modules on psychiatry with 30 board-style questions each. Respondents can submit their answers online and have them scored and returned immediately. One CME credit hour can be earned per module for a fee of $20. A useful teaching tool is a slide show (40 slides) on augmentation strategies for antidepressants with text and references. Psychiatrists who answer the test questions can earn 1.5 CME credit hours for a fee of $30.
Sites by Individual Psychiatrists
- Dr. Bob's Psychopharmacology Tips: This site is maintained by Robert Hsiung, M.D., an assistant professor of clinical psychiatry at the University of Chicago. He posts tips from members of his online psycho-pharmacologic discussion list or e-mail messages he receives. The homepage includes a search feature, recognition and support for tips, and "Psychobabble," a bulletin-board chat room for site devotees.
- Dr. Ivan's Depression Central: Ivan Goldberg, M.D., a psychiatrist at the New York Psychopharmacologic Institute in New York City, maintains this site. Viewers have access to a vast array of information on depressive disorders including the most effective treatments. Unique features include a section on combined drug treatment and psychotherapy, a list of famous people with mood disorders, and a 1997 guide to the best psychiatric hospitals in the country published in U.S. News and World Report.
- Milton's InterPsych Page: This site is maintained by Milton Huang, M.D., a psychiatrist who is a lecturer and assistant director of the psychiatric informatics program at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Electronic forums offer clinical discussions on all aspects of psychopathology. Discussion groups are listed by topic and summarized in an expanded list that includes a contact person.
Useful Web Addresses
These are addresses for psychiatry-related Web sites reviewed by medical informatics expert Rima Styra, M.D., at APA's 1998 annual meeting in Toronto.
Literature
Associations and Institutions
Individual Psychiatrists
