MedlinePlus Tutorial 6: Get Information About Medical Tests on MedlinePlus

Welcome to the video tutorial: "Get Information About Medical Tests on MedlinePlus." This video is to support you, the Community Health Worker. It shares about a great, reliable website where you can go for information about medical tests When you use this one website, you can be confident that you are sharing health information that is accurate and reliable. They have already done the research for you and pulled together the information you need. MedlinePlus is that website. Sometimes, a visit to the doctor includes medical tests. The doctor may do a test in the office, or may order tests to be done at another location. The doctor may order tests as part of a routine checkup such as checking on cholesterol levels. Or the tests may be to diagnose or rule out certain diseases or disorders. Or they may be to check on the person's health, or a number of reasons. Let's say your client shares with you that their doctor ordered a Fecal Occult Blood Test for them and they would like more information. Let's visit the Medical Tests section of MedlinePlus to find information about medical tests. First, go to the MedlinePlus website. From the home webpage of MedlinePlus, you can either click on Medical Tests from the top menu bar, or, from the menu a little further down the webpage. Tests are listed alphabetically. You may prefer to scroll down the webpage, or search by letter of the alphabet. Scroll down, and you'll find "Fecal Occult Blood Test" listed. Click on it, and it will tell you what a Fecal Occult Blood Test is, share the reasons for getting the test, explain what happens during the test, share how to prepare to take the test, share any risks involved in taking the test, tell what the test results mean, and more. At the very bottom is "Show references." Click on that to see where the information about Fecal Occult Blood Test is coming from. Remember that MedlinePlus only uses information from trustworthy resources, and they keep it updated, so you can be sure that this information is reliable. Want to find this information in Spanish? In the upper right corner of the webpage, click on "Español." If you are starting from the Spanish version of MedlinePlus, note that the alphabetical listings will most likely vary from the English version. The information is the same as the English version. Sometimes MedlinePlus lists a more general term for medical tests. Here is an example. Say your client wants to learn more about the medical test "Colonoscopy." In the Medical Tests section of MedlinePlus, you won't find "Colonoscopy" listed alphabetically. Colonoscopy is included in the broader term "Colorectal Cancer Screening Tests." When you click on "Colorectal Cancer Screening Tests" you will see colonoscopy listed with other colorectal cancer screening tests. One more way to look for information about medical tests is to use the search box and type in the name of the test. You may find more information within MedlinePlus that is helpful. Be sure to search on MedlinePlus to find the information you need on medical tests.