Dr. Lily Phillips, MD, Family Medicine | Murrieta, CA | WebMD (2024)

FAQs

Is WebMD a credible source? ›

WebMD Health Services provides credible information, supportive communities, and in-depth reference material about important health subjects. For decades, it has been a valued and respected source for original and timely health information as well as material from well-known content providers.

MD stands for doctor of medicine. It is a designation that indicates someone who has completed medical school.

Overall, the doctors I spoke to said they didn't find anything exceptionally egregious about WebMD. But they noted the lack of context around some of the site's medical advice, as well as a smattering of misinformation.

A Ph. D. is the highest degree you can get in any subject, so it carries prestige. With an M.D., you can operate as a medical doctor and help patients, which many people respect.

MD: This is the designation for medical doctor, which is earned by obtaining a bachelor's degree (which takes four years) and then graduating from medical school, which also takes four years.

MD, or Doctor of Medicine, is the highest academic degree for surgeons and physicians.

The National Institutes of Health website is a good place to start for reliable health information. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website is another one.

At the end of the day, the reason Healthline overtook WebMD is manifold: a mix of better user intent understanding, user experience, and content quality.

Introducing PubMed

PubMed is a free and publicly available resource provided by the US National Library of Medicine. It covers the biomedical literature and, as the free version of MEDLINE, is highly authoritative. Pros and Cons: Advantages of using PubMed: It is a huge, reliable, and highly authoritative resource.

Is Mayo Clinic a scholarly source? ›

One of the premier peer-reviewed clinical journals in general and internal medicine, Mayo Clinic Proceedings is among the most widely read and highly cited scientific publications for physicians.