Talk:Medicine/Advice tutorial

Error

"Experienced health professionals have a broad perspective and depth of understanding that cannot be matched by sleuthing on the internet." This statement seems too sweeping and flatout incorrect to me. Myriads of examples are reported in the U.S. News where individuals have pursued matters themselves online and elsewhere and achieved better results than from their specific health care professionals. This statement makes large assumptions about the competence of all professionals and inadequacies of all amateurs and the internet in general that can be potentially deadly to unwary readers. Mirwin 07:25, 16 September 2007 (UTC)

• I understand your point. Someone who thinks they can drop into a wiki and ask for medical advice is not really doing the kind of thing "where individuals have pursued matters themselves online and elsewhere and achieved better results than from their specific health care professionals". The phrase "sleuthing on the internet" is in the context of asking for medical advice at wiki websites. --JWSchmidt 15:48, 16 September 2007 (UTC)

Dissent

I disagree with what this says. I think that people who post their medical situation can obtain useful leads about their condition, provided that they apply "caveat lector" and do not take anything said as advice. The fact is, if someone happens to have Tourette's syndrome or oral thrush or melanoma or any other medical condition, rare or common, getting the name of that condition put in front of them so that they can read about it will be a Very Good Thing. They may well recognize their symptoms, and in some cases, they may even immediately learn something to avoid to protect themselves, or give themselves a reason to get immediate medical help before it is too late. Those who support the creation of Wikimedia projects (though not those whose interest is in controlling them) should believe in the general ethic that getting information out to people is a good thing, and the effect of true information outweighs the effect of false information. Wnt (talk) 17:58, 5 September 2012 (UTC)