The goal of GeneralPediatrics.com is to identify and organize high quality, authoritative World Wide Web medical sites so that questions about common problems can be quickly and easily answered. Criteria for selection of the authoritative information, web site curator and sponsors, and current revision date are included in the home page. GeneralPediatrics.com is written for and intended primarily for use by residents, fellows, or attending physicians practicing pediatrics. Medical students beginning their study of pediatrics or other health care providers practicing pediatrics may find it useful.

Resources are organized by categories: two searchable databases of common pediatric health problems (one for professionals and one for patients); case studies and patient simulations; CME courses; EBM resources; pediatrics-related journals and news; professional societies; textbooks for professionals and for patients; and health sciences and pediatrics internet directories, search engines and handheld computer resources. This extensive collection of websites is updated regularly.

GeneralPediatrics.com was developed using a literature-based needs analysis that was then validated by informal focus groups and end-user comment forms. Our studies show that pediatricians who received a 10-minute individual training session and handout on how to use a pediatric digital library increased their use of computer-based resources to answer professional questions more than did an untrained control group. The average time spent finding an answer was 8.3 minutes for the trained group versus 19.6 minutes for the control group, a 58% reduction. Almost three-quarters of these physicians believed that finding an answer affected patient care. We also conducted a randomized-controlled trial of information prescriptions (IPs) for parents. IPs are prescriptions of specific, evidence-based information to manage health problems. The IPs increased Internet utilization for general and child health information, but were not associated with a specific behavior change related to a particular recommended information resource.

GeneralPediatrics.com supports the following ACGME competencies:
Patient care
Medical knowledge
Problem-based learning
Systems-based practice

References

D’Alessandro DM and Kingsley P. (2002) Creating a pediatric digital library for pediatric health care providers and families: using literature and data to define common pediatric problems J Am Inform Assoc. 9(2): 161-170.

D’Alessandro DM, Kreiter C, and Peterson MW. (2004) An evaluation of information-seeking behaviors of general pediatricians Pediatrics 113(1 Pt1): 64-69.

D’Alessandro DM, Kreiter CD, Kinzer SL, and Peterson, MW. (2004) A randomized controlled trial of an information prescription for pediatric patient education information on the internet Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 158(9): 857-862.