On this page: Health Search; Health Topics A to Z; More Search Tools; Get Searching Help
Health Search
Search trusted health sites.
Health Topics A to Z
Browse trusted health sites and St. Michael's Hospital pamphlets in one place.
More Search Tools
General Information:
Health Link BC - from the Government of BC, includes information on Healthy Eating, Common Health Concerns, Medical Tests A-Z, Medications A-Z, Health Topics A-Z, Services and Resources, Tools and Videos.
JAMA Patient Pages - Almost 800 one page summaries of common topics and conditions in health care
Mayo Clinic Patient Care and Health Information - includes information on Health Lifestyle, Symptoms A-Z, Diseases and Conditions A-Z, Tests and Procedures A-Z, Drugs and Supplements A-Z
MedlinePlus - consumer health information service produced by the United States National Library of Medicine. Often confused with Medline, which is a database of biomedical literature, that is not consumer focused, but also offered from the National Library of Medicine. MedlinePlus is optimized for mobile devices and available in English and Spanish. Includes information on Health Topics, Drugs and Supplements and Videos & Tools. A medical encyclopedia is also available.
Merck Manual of Medical Information - Consumer Edition - Information for the consumer on almost 300 disorders and diseases
Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care - this site is an excellent resource for information on nutrition, fitness, health assessment and medical conditions
Public Health Agency of Canada - infectious diseases, chronic diseases, travel health, health promotion and more
PubMed - run a keyword search and filter the article type to "Patient Education Handout" on the left side of the screen.
UpToDate Patient Information - These professional articles provide a detailed discussion of medical research and current expert recommendations, and contain links to summaries of important medical studies. Although UpToDate offers free information, more in-depth resources are available by paid subscription (see Lexicomp for access to SOME of these subscription based resources)
Custom Information Requests
Custom Information Requests are available to St. Michael's Hospital patients and visitors that are having trouble finding health information on their own.
A librarian will complete the health information search on your behalf. Custom Information Requests can be picked-up at the Patient and Family Learning Centre or they can be mailed or emailed to you.
To request a Custom Information Package, fill out the PDF form below and email it to: patientandfamilylearning@smh.ca
Adapted from the HLWIKI page
Book Borrowing
Patient and Family Learning Centre Book Catalogue - search our collection of over 200 books, audiobooks, and dvds. Books can be borrowed for 3 weeks. To sign-out a book, visit the Patient and Family Learning Centre, 6-004 Cardinal Carter Wing, St. Michael's Hospital, 30 Bond St., Toronto, ON.
Toronto Public Library Catalogue - visitors might also be interested in what the Toronto Public Library has in their collection.
Audio/Visual Information
Search DVDs and Audiobooks from the collection at the Patient and Family Learning Centre at St. Michael's Hospital.
MedlinePlus also has a large selection of online videos.
Health Tools
Health Calculators from the Ottawa Hospital calculators for Life expectancy, Salt intake, Depression risk, and Cancer risk.
Decision Points from HealthLink BC are tools designed to guide you through key health decisions, combining medical information with your personal values to make a wise health decision. HealthLink BC also has a number of other tools found here.
Health Canada's Clinical Trials Database
Health Canada's Clinical Trials Database is managed by Health Canada and provides a source of information about Canadian clinical trials involving human pharmaceutical and biological drugs.
Licensed Natural Health Products Database contains information about natural health products that have been issued a product licence by Health Canada. It includes information on:
Tips for searching the database: select the following...Current Status as "active"; Search Field as "Recommended Use or Purpose"; Operator as "contains"; then type in a keyword.
Get Searching Help
Contact: patientandfamilylearning@smh.ca
416-864-6060 extension 2522
Visit the Patient and Family Learning Centre
6-004 Cardinal Carter Wing, St. Michael's Hospital
Monday to Friday, 9am-2pm