I.M.

a. Internal Medicine?
b. Internet and Medicine?
c. Instant Messaging?
d. all of the above

the internet and medicine
two edges of a sword
vast knowledge at one's fingertips
a broadband can afford

with just a simple click
find the reason why you're sick
that brightly colored hypertext
can tell you what will happen next

symptomatology
treatment modality
differentials
diagnostics
prognostication
drug interaction

even our textbooks
might soon be obsolete
for Medline and Ovid
with old and new journals
truely they are replete.

and now the modern patient
knows how to google and yahoo
before he goes for clinic check-up
he's been with webMD an hour or two

is it good? is it bad?
i say we ought to be glad
the patient now knows that he has
two bladders, two kidneys
and one pancreas
makes it easier to explain
the pathophysio of his pain

just please don't forget
or you'll be full of regret
"a little knowledge is a dangerous thing"
frequent self-medication
might herald a complication
and much more sorrow indeed it can bring

so here now is my prescription
to both patient and physician:
take caution sublime
do tether your time
the internet indeed is educative
but web surfing can be mighty addictive.



.