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With fast internet connections available to the majority of the general practices in Australia, and 56% of doctors using internet during consultations, GPs are accessing healthcare information even during busy consultations (Ref). Furthermore, there is an increasing trend in patients initiating consultations following internet searches (Ref).

Confirming anecdotal evidence, a 2008 survey of GPs indicated that Google was five times more popular than the next website, and was noted to be a good starting point for intent browsing (Ref). This article aims to give a quick, hands-on method for using general search engines to obtain reliable up to date information.

The search techniques will be explained using a clinical vignette. When you have a patient story, it is always good to structure the story into PICO format. The PICO identifies the main problem (P), the intervention/s (I), the comparing intervention/s you would like to have (C), and the outcome (O).

Once you have the PICO, underline search the words (at least two and not more than five or six) you would like to use, giving them ranks.