Of course there is no doubt, the world wide web has most of the information we need to diagnose our symptoms but Doctor Tyrer points out "it doesn't have any judgement associated with it." This is why having a consultation with a doctor face-to-face still has its benefits, although a study a few years ago found many GPs felt intimidated by the increasing numbers of web-wise patients arriving in surgeries. One doctor admitted to not being very happy about patients using the internet, saying: "They all seemed to come to me with things I'd never heard of and very often with things which seem rather bizarre or inappropriate."

But Professor Sue Ziebland, from Oxford University, has spent 15 years examining how patients use the internet – including people with cancer. She found that doctors now routinely discuss it as a resource with patients during consultations so it becomes an everyday part of medical conversation. It would seem then that a virtual online doctor can prescribe a dose of useful advice, but technology hasn't replaced the human medical expert just yet.

词汇表 critical 严重的，危险的

appointment 预约

GP 全科医生

surgery 诊所

come to someone’s rescue 帮助某人脱离窘境

self-diagnose 自诊

ailment 小病

dengue fever 登革热

at our fingertips 近在我们手边

just what the doctor ordered 正是想要的东西，正是所需之物

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