The National Guideline Clearinghouse at http://www.guidelines.gov/index.asp produced by the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR) offers a comprehensive list of evidence-based clinical practice guidelines for physicians, in order to guide doctors as to what the best treatment protocols for common problems are. An example of the available guidelines includes the title, Screening for high blood cholesterol and other lipid abnormalities, United States Preventive Services Task Force. 1996. New guidelines are posted on a weekly basis. Not only does this site allow you to browse through guidelines for various conditions, it also offers you a search engine to pinpoint information about recommended protocols for a specific disease.

A search on Hepatitis B, for example, yields 30 separate guidelines dealing with immunization, screening and treatment. You can even compare different protocols suggested by different authorities. If you need a more international perspective The New Zealand Guidelines Group has put up an excellent library of guidelines at http://www.nzgg.org.nz/library.htm and the Scottish Evidence-Based Practice Guidelines is at http://pc47.cee.hw.ac.uk/sign/home.htm,! Especially useful for doctors practising in smaller towns in the Standard Treatment Guidelines and Essential Drugs List for South Africa at http://www.hst.org.za/pubs/edl/edlinfo.htm.