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In past centuries humans have been at the mercy of all kinds of bacteria, viruses and other icky stuff. Here is a list of famous human pandemics, and how the diseases responsible would be handled today.

Websites telling the inspirational personal stories of people battling disease, injury and illness.

A web-based tool, Continuity of Care Online Simulations (COCOS), was designed for use in a one-month, postgraduate clinical rotation in endocrinology. It is an interactive tool that simulates the continuing care of any patient with a chronic endocrine disease. Twenty-three residents in internal medicine participated in a study to investigate the effects of using COCOS during a clinical rotation in endocrinology on pre-post knowledge test scores and self-assessment of confidence.

Access research studies, publications, conference proceedings, reference materials, databases, tools, and other resources of interest to medical researchers, health care providers, patients, consumers, citizens, and policymakers.

The Biomedicine Research Labs Island, which opened in January, 2008, is in fact the digital headquarters of RL organization S.H.R.O. of Philadelphia, PA. According to their press release "S.H.R.O. is committed to excellence in basic genetic research to cure and diagnose cancer, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and other chronic illnesses and to foster the training of young international doctors in a spirit of professionalism and humanism".

100 Diagnostic Challenges in Clinical Medicine is composed of one hundred well-illustrated clinical scenarios and their appropriate investigations. A wide variety of specialties are covered including cardiology, neurology, dermatology, endocrinology, tropical medicine, haematology, metabolic medicine, radiology, ophthalmology, venereology, and infectious diseases. Presenting the relevant investigations corresponding to each case in an interesting and easy-to-read Q&A format concerning diagnosis and management

"They review some classics including: "The rational clinical examination. Is this patient having a myocardial infarction?" in JAMA 1998. "The International Registry of Acute Aortic Dissection (IRAD): new insights into an old disease" in JAMA 2000. "Evaluation of D-dimer in the diagnosis of suspected deep-vein thrombosis" in NEJM 2003. "The Canadian C-spine rule versus the NEXUS low-risk criteria in patients with trauma" in NEJM 2003. "Computed tomography of the head before lumbar puncture in adults with suspected meningitis" in NEJM 2001."

"A new type of CBPS, the digital storytelling system, has been developed and evaluated which and appears to be successful in overcoming some of the limitations of earlier CBPS by featuring patient's stories in their own words, by focusing on problems rather than diseases, and by having stories that are quick for students to work through."

"Banning the handshake from the health care environment may require further study to confirm and better describe the link between handshake-related transmission of pathogens and disease. "

"WHAT TO DO WHEN A PATIENT LACKS CAPACITY - The degree and urgency with which to act on findings of impaired capacity depends on multiple factors, including the expected duration of impairment, the severity of the impairment, and the seriousness of the decision. Unless the urgency of a patient's medical condition requires that a substituted decision be made immediately, efforts should be made to identify and correct any reversible causes of the impairment [26]. This is particularly relevant in hospitalized patients with impaired capacity due to delirium. Treatment of the underlying causes of delirium may restore decision-making capacity. Patients with mild to moderate cognitive impairment that is not expected to fluctuate may benefit from more intensive efforts at education to improve understanding of the relevant facts, followed by reassessment of decision-making abilities. A randomized trial found that a memory and organizational aid given to patients with mild stage Alzheimer disease dementia (n = 80) improved performance on understanding, which in turn increased the likelihood of being judged capable of providing informed consent to enroll in a clinical trial [34]. This enhancement was also effective in a randomized trial with middle-aged and older adults with schizophrenia [35]. For patients whose impairments are severe enough that they are judged to lack the capacity to make a decision, there is a clear ethical obligation to seek out a substitute decision maker. Substitute or surrogate decision makers should ideally have been chosen by the patient in advance. In the absence of a designated surrogate, laws may vary in terms of which people can serve in this proxy role and their hierarchy; in general, the order is the spouse, adult children, parents, siblings, and other relatives. (See "Legal aspects in palliative and end of life care", section on 'Surrogate decision makers'.) When making a substituted decision, the proxy should take into consideration

3 semesters worth of lectures on human biology, health and disease, medical research, and health care. The lectures are available through iTunes, YouTube, and on the Stanford Mini Med School website. Click winter term, spring term, and fall term to access the different lectures.

Content sources tapped for "atherosclerosis" search results: Pubmed, NewsRX, MedicineNet, NaturalNews, oilofpisces.com, NIDDK, NIH, eMedicine, Children with Diabetes, Yahoo! Health