USC-Licensed Resources
These books and websites are for USC students, staff, and faculty only.
- AAFP (American Association of Family Physicians) Conditions A-ZThis textbook in the Stat!Ref collection provides brief, consumer-level descriptions of 1000+ common diseases, conditions, and medications. About half of these summaries are also available in Spanish.
- AccessMedicine This link opens in a new windowFrom the AccessMedicine homepage, click on the "Patient Ed" tab to view the titles of the handouts. Includes over 100 patient education handouts on broad, common topics such as "skin cancer." Each handout summarizes basic information about a condition and provides treatment options. Handouts are provided by Postgraduate Medicine: The Practical Peer-Reviewed Journal for Primary Care Physicians.
- ClinicalKey This link opens in a new windowFrom the Clinical key homepage, click on the "Patient Education" link at the top. Search by keyword, or browse by Conditions & Treatments, Medications, or Specialties. Provides approximately 10,000 specialized handouts, covering conditions, treatments, and medications for different populations, (e.g., children, teens, adults, or seniors). About 30% of handouts are available in Spanish.
- Micromedex This link opens in a new windowProvides complete, easy-to-understand patient education information about all aspects of their care, medications, and health, in English or Spanish. From the Micromedex homepage, select "CareNotes System." Search by keyword or use the tabs at the top to browse by Care & Condition Titles, Drug Titles, or Lab Titles. Care & Condition Titles may include General Information; Pre-care; Inpatient Care; Discharge Care; AfterCare Instructions (ER); and DrugNote.
- PubMed@USC This link opens in a new windowContains over 20 million citations from more than 5,000 journals in the basic and clinical sciences. Coverage: 1966-present. Limit your search to Patient Education Handouts (Type of Article box on Limits page).
- UpToDate This link opens in a new windowAn evidence-based resource covering multiple medical specialties. Includes topic monographs, patient education, practice updates, drug interactions, guidelines, and medical calculators. To obtain CME, create a personal profile and log in.
Free, Recommended Websites
These sites can be accessed by anyone, and are great places to suggest for patients and their families.
- Healthfinder This link opens in a new windowConsumer health website from the Office of Diesease Prevention and Health Promotion with over 1,400 health topics linking to government and non-profit organizations.
- Medical Board of CaliforniaIts mission is to protect health care consumers through the proper licensing and regulation of physicians and surgeon, and to promote access to quality medical care.
- MedlinePlus This link opens in a new windowConsumer health information. This US-government-produced website provides free medical information and is written for a non-professional audience. Also available entirely in Spanish.
- National Institute on Aging - Health Information This link opens in a new windowHealth resource for older adults and their caretakers. Includes videos and health topics for older adults, and training resources for information providers.
- Physician Data Query (PDQ) from National Cancer Institute This link opens in a new windowComprehensive source of cancer information. Contains: PDQ Cancer Information Summaries, Editorial Boards, Levels of Evidence, NCI Drug Information Summaries; NCI Dictionaries, Cancer Genetics Services. Selected content available in Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, and Arabic.
- TRIP Database This link opens in a new windowThis clinical search engine allows users to quickly find high-quality research evidence to support practice or care. It also searches for images, videos, and patient education handouts.