Open courseware offers you college classes, including masters degree and PhD degree level classes, to help you learn more about various subjects. You can get access to these materials for free, learning at your own pace. You won’t be able to college credit for these classes, but you will be able to expand your knowledge. Here are some great options for improving your medical knowledge:

Anatomy and Physiology

Learn more about the way the body is put together, and the way it works. These great courses offer you better understanding of the body.

1. Human Physiology: A study of the human body from the University of Utah.
2. The Human Body: Great coursewaeware from Harvard covering different aspects of the human body.
3. Medical Terminology: This is actually a great course that can help you learn more about the jargon used in medical settings.
4. General Human Anatomy: Berkeley offers this great course on the human body.
5. Anatomy and Physiology: Western Governor’s University offers a great course on anatomy and physiology. A great refresher for any health care professional.

Genetics and Development

Find out more about the genes that make up humans. Explore human development on a physical and mental level. An interest look at what makes us who we are.

6. Adolescent Health and Development: A great look at the way young people grow and develop.
7. Human Growth and Development: Tufts University takes you through the developmental stages of human growth.
8. Masculinity, Sexual Behavior & Health: A look at sexual development in men. An interesting course.
9. Genetics: Get an idea of how genes work. A fascinating course from MIT.
10. Genetics: This open courseware class is offered by Tufts University. Great insights into genes and development.
11. Genomic Medicine: Another great course from MIT, this one helps you learn more about the genome, and medicine based on our discoveries.
12. Young people’s wellbeing: A health course designed to help you learn how to help young people improve their general physical, mental and emotional health.
13. The Wisdom Years: Focusing on health during the latter stages of life. Great developmental information based on the elderly.
14. Health Across the Life Span: A great course from Johns Hopkins University on different stages of health.
15. General Psychology: Find out more about mental development from this basic class.
16. Neuroscience and Behavior: This MIT offering looks at brain development and how it affects behavior.

Body Systems

These open courseware classes focus more on different systems in the body. Great lectures, assignments and more to help you learn about the body’s individual systems.

17. Cardiovascular Pathophysiology: A great look at the cardiovascular system, providing helpful information on the heart and related systems.
18. Renal Pathophysiology: Interested in the kidneys? This course looks at the function of the kidneys, and the system in which they operate.
19. Human Reproductive Biology: Find out more about the reproductive system. Looks at reproduction in males and females.
20. Gastroenterology: Learn about the gastrointestinal tract and the systems that are associated with the way food moves through our system.
21. Physiology of the Ear: Yet another MIT course offering about medicine.
22. Musculoskeletal Pathophysiology: Find out more about the muscles and the skeleton in this Tufts University course. A great look at the way the body is held together and moves.
23. Occurrence of Central Nervous System/Analysis of Differentiation Mechanism: This course is in English from the University of Tokyo.

Diseases and Biology

Follow the development of different diseases, and learn about the microbiology inherent in our bodies. Great, helpful courses on protecting our bodies from foreign organisms.

24. Modern Biology: Get a basic understanding of biology, and the smallest cells in the body.
25. Human Biology Course: University of Leeds offers a look at biology from the standpoint of human medicine.
26. Principles of Human Disease: Find out more about disease, what causes it and other basics.
27. Basic Human Pathology: Learn more about different diseases that affect different areas of the body.
28. Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases: Offers a look at epidemiology, and the way infectious spread.
29. Pathophysiology of Infectious Diseases: Focuses on microbiology as it helps you gain an understanding of the “why” behind disease.
30. Evolution of the Immune System: Takes a look at how the body fights off disease.

Public Health and Medical Ethics

Keep up with the latest information in public health developments. Additionally, you can learn about medical ethics and ideas of treatments from these courses.

31. Medicine and Public Health in American History: Take a look at the history of public health in the U.S.
32. Sociology of Health and Medicine: Learn more about medicine and health in our society.
33. Medicine, Human Rights and the Physician: Look at at human rights, humanitarian aid and medical ethics.
34. Social and Behavioral Foundations of Primary Health Care: Johns Hopkins University offers a look at the development of health care.
35. Environmental Health: A look at public health and how it relates to environmental factors.
36. Impact of Pandemic Influenza on Public Health: An enlightening look at public health as it relates to pandemics.
37. Ethical Issues in Public Health: Another great offering from Johns Hopkins on the subject of public health and ethics.

Medical Technology

Learn more about medical technology. The following open courseware classes include information on imaging, medical computing and health informatics. Very interesting courses.

38. Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging: Learn more about imaging, and the basics of MRI.
39. Lieberman’s Interactive Tutorials in Radiology: Great primer information on basic radiology.
40. Information Technology in Healthcare: Another opportunity to let Harvard help you learn more about how technology can be used in medicine.
41. Noninvasive Imaging in Biology and Medicine: Great course on using imaging in a non-invasive manner.
42. Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Solutions Using R and Bioconductor: Great opportunity to learn more about informatics.
43. Epidemiology and Biostatistics: Great information on biostats. Allows you to learn more about medical literature.

Online videos that feature previously televised programs offer viewers flexibility, as viewers can watch these shows when convenient. This convenience is helpful when watching and learning from shows that contain exercise routines and workouts or shows that teach viewers how to plan healthy meals or how to build healthy home environments. Now that the focus is on preventative health, you might expect to find more health and wellness video programming on major stations as well as at Hulu.

This list of 25 online TV shows that are good for your health and wellness are listed alphabetically and include premier channels as well as complete Web site television viewing stations (including two shows from the UK). All features and clips from news shows are free to watch, so the only cost is your time and effort.

ABC, NBC and CBS

ABC and NBC are strong on the health front, especially with NBC’s upcoming Losing It with Jillian and Breakthrough with Tony Robbins. Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution previewed as the newest health and wellness show with more than seven million viewers.

1. ABC News Health: This site contains videos that were shown on news programs and television shows on this station [ABC].
2. CBS News Health: Scroll down to view videos approaching a wide variety of health and wellness topics [CBS].
3. Garden Party: Jennie Garth visits local farms, explains the benefits of fresh vegetables, and shares tips to help parents encourage their children to eat healthier [NBC].
4. Good Morning America: This show carries two main health segments, including Dr. Richard Besser and Healthy Living [ABC].
5. Health Video: This site focuses on health videos that focus on news, workouts, medicine and diet [NBC].
6. Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution: A chef from the UK lands in Huntington W. VA, with the goal of revolutionizing the school’s food programs, despite USDA regulations. Huntington has been rated as the unhealthiest city in the nation [ABC].
7. Shaq’s Big Challenge: You can watch the previous show at Hulu, where Shaq takes six kids and encourages them to get fit and lose weight. This show was slotted against America’s Got Talent and House, which is why it may have been canceled for lack of interest [ABC].
8. The Biggest Loser: The encouragement to viewers is through blogs, a weigh-in game, the Biggest Loser Club and more [NBC].

Other Online Channels

Some of these links go to complete Web sites filled with videos from televised shows, including the show, Living With My Type 2, a PBS feature that shows Type 2 Diabetes sufferers at all ages.

9. Building Green TV: Learn how to live in a healthier environment. The link takes you to the Web site, and Hulu has all the videos [Building Green TV].
10. Celebrity Fit Club: After five hit seasons, VH1′s Celebrity Fit Club is back with a new twist — boot camp [VH1].
11. CNN Health: This Web site contains videos that cover a wide variety of health topics aired on television [CNN].
12. Cooking Up a Story: This show is about people, food and sustainable living. The link is to the site, which contains the show, and you also can watch on Hulu [Online].
13. Dance Your Ass Off: Bringing dance and diet together, this show features talented, full-figured contestants who will have to lose to win. This show has its fans hooked with a fit club, blogs, videos and more [Oxygen].
14. Diary of a Foodie: Gourmet delivers a unique cultural look at the world, food first, and from a health-conscious perspective [Various].
15. Discovery Health: The Discovery Channel devotes an entire segment to health, including mental health, pregnancy and parenting, diet and fitness and sex and relationships. The site supports various shows with tips, recipes and more [Discovery].
16. Edible Island: Martha’s Vineyard provides the backdrop to Chris Fischer’s shows on local growing, harvesting, foraging and fishing for healthy food [Plum TV].
17. Exercise TV: This entire online TV site is filled with hundreds of free online workout videos, weight loss advice via online blogs, an online health and fitness community where you can get answers to questions about health, nutrition, weight loss and exercise [Exercise TV].
18. Fox News Health: Scroll down to view videos that range from news clips to features such as the Ask Dr. Manny Show. Videos focus on a wide range of topics [FOX].
19. Health Corner: This show features real stories about diseases and the site supports healthy living [Lifetime].
20. Kirstie Alley’s Big Life: The focus is not totally on weight, but it does chronicle this actress’s battle with weight loss. This story coincides with the launch of her new weight loss company [A&E].
21. MSNBC Health: Another cable news station with a section devoted to health, with videos that approach a wide variety of topics [MSNBC].
22. My Big Fat Diet Show: Anna Richardson grabs the UK by its love handles and shows viewers how to lose those pounds through recipe ideas and menu plans [UK - Channel 4].
23. PBS Video Health and Wellness: View topics ranging from Type 2 Diabetes to retirement with complete videos from shows that run on this station [PBS].
24. Supersize vs. Superskinny: Documentary series in which two extreme eaters — one very overweight and the other severely underweight — swap diets in an attempt to change the way they view food and eating [UK channel 4].
25. Workout: A reality TV show that includes workouts [Bravo].

If you are interested in pediatric nursing, here are 25 top blogs you can read to learn more about caring for the smallest of patients:

Pediatric Nurse Blogs

Here are some blogs written by nurses and other health care professionals that care for children, or that are involved with childbirth. Learn more about the lifestyle and professional challenges associated with pediatric nursing.

1. The Makings of a Nurse: She’s just finishing up nursing school, but Nurse Teeny has some great insights into the lifestyle of a nurse. She has also worked in pediatric nursing, and shares some thoughts on that in some of her posts.
2. Pediatrics Nursing News: Nurse.com offers this blog, and nursing headlines from the world of pediatrics. Learn more about pediatric nursing, and learn the latest techniques and tips associated with caring for younger patients.
3. NeoNurseChic: This nursing student is studying to be a pediatric nurse practitioner. While the blog hasn’t been updated in a while, there are some interesting posts in the archives, and the information remains relevant.
4. Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Jobs: This helpful blog has insights on nursing, and, in particular, life as a pediatric nurse practitioner. Includes career tips and helpful information that can help you if you are interested in progressing further in pediatric nursing.
5. Blog of a Wife & Nurse: Follow the adventures of a newlywed NICU nurse as she helps the littlest patients into life. Real-world look at what it’s like to work in a neonatal intensive care unit.
6. Birthday Nurse: This nurse specializes in birth, and in helping care for newborns. Read her interesting stories, and get some insight into how to care for these newborn patients, as well as how to interact with the parents.
7. Octopus Mom: This mom and nurse shares stories of life as NICU nurse, and a busy mom. She recently quit her nursing job to stay home with her children, but she still has some great insights on nursing — and you can always read the archives!
8. The Midwives of Bethany Womens Healthcare: A group of nurse midwives at a women’s health center share insights on nursing, pregnancy and raising healthy children.
9. Adventures in Juggling: Get a firsthand look at what it’s like to be a NICU nurse, juggling career and life while helping as many people as possible.

Children’s Health Blogs

Learn more about children’s health, health policy and issues, raising a healthy family and other issues related to pediatrics from these blogs.

10. Children’s Health Blog: Learn about children’s health and healthcare from this blog offering insights and the latest information.
11. Say Ahhh!: This children’s health policy blog has news, information and the latest studies that can help you be a better pediatric nurse.
12. Healthy Child Healthy World: Get a look at the latest news and information — with commentary — in the world of children’s health.
13. Fabretto Children’s Health Blog: Offers helpful information, insights and more on raising healthy children, and providing good healthcare for pediatric patients.
14. Baby Mum-Mum: Focuses on healthy children, child development and provides insights that can help any pediatric nurse improve the way she or he interacts with young patients.
15. Child Health Blog: Looks at child development, welfare and offers care tips related to pediatrics, and discusses different procedures and policies related to children’s health.
16. Child Health: This blog from Healia looks at different issues that affect children as they grow and develop. A great blog for pediatric nurses looking for more information on child development, and looking for tips they can provide to the parents of children who come under their care.
17. Toddlers: Get some insight on toddler care and learn ways to better manage behavior in toddlers. Valuable information for pediatric nurses who are interested in toddler development.

Pediatric Doctor Blogs

You can learn a lot about pediatric nursing from doctors that specialize in pediatric care. Here are some great blogs written by pediatric doctors who can provide you with some professional insight.

18. Pediatrics: This doctor provides professional insight into pediatrics with news, helpful information and tips. Plenty of good information on a number of subjects related to pediatric health.
19. Doctor David’s Blog: Dr. David is a pediatrician who offers a number of interesting insights. He specializes in pediatric oncology, and has some great information on dealing with childhood cancer and interacting with patients and their parents.
20. Dr. Gwenn Is In: This pediatric doctor is also a mom. You can read about her insights on caring from children from a medical standpoint, as well as from a mom standpoint. Interesting look at pediatrics that any nurse can benefit from.
21. Dr. Shu Says: Another pediatric doctor and mom, you can learn more about caring for children, and find tips you can provide to parents. Also get interesting commentary on events of the day and managing different conditions that affect children.
22. Pediatric Oncall: Get information on child development, pediatric issues, remedies and more from doctors and other pediatric health professionals.
23. NorthSide Pediatrics: This doctor’s office looks at topics related to pediatric care — as well as life. Get interesting insights on caring for children, from Dr. Andy Sagan, who specializes in pediatric medicine.
24. Delaware Modern Pediatrics Blog: Pediatric nurses can benefit from reading this blog, which offers insights into the latest news and issues affecting children’s health, and providing some helpful insight into practices and procedures. This practice also includes a pediatric nurse.
25. A Pediatrician’s Blog: This pediatrician blogs about life, taking care of children and health issues. Posts are somewhat sporadic, but the information on child development is interesting and worthwhile.

The following list is divided into two categories entitled, “Instantly Recognizable” and “Gaining a Name.” The first category includes doctors who have over 75,000 followers. The second category includes doctors who have 10,000-50,000 followers. Notice the gap in numbers between the two categories…we could not find doctors who had between 50,000 and 75,000 followers.

This gap might show that success is viral. After this list makes its rounds, a few of the doctors in the second category may end up in the first category. Some, like Dr. Andrew Weil — who has been on the cover of Time and is instantly recognizable outside Twitter — may work their way into the Twitter ‘hall of doctor fame’ with over 75,000 followers once people realize that he Twitters.

Each doctor on this list is worth following, as they all offer information to the medical profession as well as to patients. No matter if its in the field of nursing or in the field of social media, each doctor can show readers how to gain some popularity (and responsibility) for helping others. The links within each category are listed alphabetically by the doctor’s Twitter name and the links lead to their Twitter pages. From there, you can learn more about the doctor, including links to each doctor’s Web site(s) and other specialties.

Instantly Recognizable

1. brianwmarshall: Dr. Brian Marshall is an occupational medicine director at Cleveland Clinic and emergency medicine physician who loves social media, Internet marketing and personal finance. He doesn’t have a television show, nor has he authored a book. His popularity seems to come from his seemingly genuine interest in people and in life.
2. DeepakChopra: Dr. Chopra is a fellow of the American College of Physicians, a member of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists, Adjunct Professor at Kellogg School of Management and Senior Scientist with The Gallup Organization. Time magazine heralded Chopra credits him as ‘the poet-prophet of alternative medicine.’
3. drdrew: Dr. Drew is a practicing internist and “addictionologist” with training in psychology. He’s become hugely popular with his focus on sex addition and for the television show, “Celebrity Rehab,” which chronicles the real life experiences of a group of celebrities as they make the life-changing decision to enter themselves into a drug, alcohol, and addiction treatment program.
4. DrOz: Dr. Mehmet Oz, cardiac surgeon, is an author and host of the The Dr. Oz Show. He’s become wildly popular because viewers can share stories to become eligible to be on his show.
5. DrPhil: Through his many books and his daily syndicated television talk show, Dr. Phil McGraw has galvanized millions of people to “get real” about their behaviors.
6. mikeyoung: Mike Young, PhD, is out of Cary, North Carolina, and he’s into CEO-human performance consulting and athletic developments. He is a sports scientist and researcher among other specialties, and he’s made himself popular through his ability to help people connect fitness to success.
7. sanjayguptaCNN: Dr. Sanjay Gupta has made a name for himself through his shows and appearances on CNN. He is that broadcast network’s chief medical correspondent and a neurosurgeon.

Gaining a Name

8. bengoldacre: Dr. Goldacre is becoming very well known for his “bad science” objectives, as he specializes in “unpicking dodgy scientific claims made by scaremongering journalists, dodgy government reports, evil pharmaceutical corporations, PR companies and quacks.”
9. DoctorRobin: Dr. Robin A. Eckert is an academic and clinical leader in the emerging field of integrative medicine. She is an assistant clinical professor with the Department of Family Medicine at U.C. Irvine Medical Center, and she is founder and medical director of the Laguna Center for Integrative Medicine in Laguna Beach, California.
10. dougpmd: Dr. Doug Penta is an OB/GYN physician with interests in HPV, fibroids, PMS and recent anti-aging physiology.
11. DrAnthony: Dr. Anthony Casas, Jr. holds a PhD in I/O Psychology, Masters in HR & OD, and a Bachelors in Psychology and Sociology. He also has extensive experience in planning, negotiations, coaching and consulting start-up enterprises.
12. DrBermant: Dr. Michael Bermant is a plastic surgeon who operates out of Richmond, Virginia. He specializes in gynecomastia, liposuction, tummy tuck, belly button, otoplasty, rhinoplasty, breast & body surgical sculpture.
13. DrJennifer: Dr. Jennifer Howard is a psychotherapist, and she brings together her more than 20 years of experience, extensive training and expertise in mind-body psychology, meditation, and a variety of the healing arts.
14. drjoesDIYhealth: Dr. Joe is a medical doctor in Australia who prides himself in “actually talking about health.” His strategy seems to be working.
15. DrJosephKim: Joseph Kim, MD, MPH, is an MIT engineer and technology advocate who offers a number of Web sites focused on medicine and technology.
16. DrWeil: Get daily information on integrative medicine, natural health and well being and tips for pesky problems that might be resolved without prescription medication through Dr. Andrew Weil’s tweets.
17. FeliceDunas: Dr. Felice Dunas brings her patients, clients and audiences better health, happiness and quality of life through erotic and intimacy education, alternative medicine and marriage coaching.
18. JohnLLeRoyJrMD: Dr. John L. LeRoy, Jr. is a band-aid mini face lift specialist and board-certified plastic surgeon who focuses on cosmetic plastic surgery from Atlanta, Georgia.
19. kevinmd: Kevin Pho, M.D., is a leading voice in the social media movement, providing provocative commentary on breaking health and medical news on Twitter and at his blog.
20. KristieMcNealy: This doctor, located out of Denver, Colorado, focuses on health, nutrition and events, social media marketing and homeschooling.
21. Lissarankin: Lissa Rankin is an OB/GYN, artist and author of two books: What’s Up Down There? and Encaustic Art. Located in Marin County, California, this doctor also is the found of Owning Pink, a “gutsy guide to getting your mojo back.”
22. Mtnmd: Dr. Kelly Sennholz, located in both the Denver, Colorado and Beverly Hills, California areas, is a physician and “doctor of wellness,” who assists people to live life to its fullest.
23. thenakeddoctor: Dr. Keith Scott-Mumby is a British alternative doctor and a long-time pioneer in natural healing. His books include Diet Wise and Cancer Confidential.
24. timlawler: Tim Lawler is a naval physician, who currently serves as a flight surgeon. He went to medical school at Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences in Kansas City, MO and enjoys educating others about various issues with life after college.
25. tomheston: Dr. Tom Heston cares a lot about his patients and blog readers in the Las Vegas area and beyond. He studied at the University of Berkley and Saint Louis University and is a Fellow at Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Resource Medical
This website concentrates on several therapeutic areas but most remarkably the hormone replacement therapy (HRT). Considering how widespread hormone related complications are, it therefore follows that everybody needs to have an understanding of this problem.

MedlinePlus
This website is known for its health related information which is well researched. It feature’s topics ranging from various drugs and supplements, medical encyclopedia and a dictionary which are very much detailed, latest medical news, and medical directories containing all kind of medical specialists.

WebMD
WebMD is held in very high esteem for its trustworthy and timely medical and health information and news. WebMD provides information concerning almost all health conditions together with their management and treatment.

Medicinenet
Depression, like stress has become so common and more mortal than before. Due to such factors, a lot of information has been generated concerning the same and posted on the internet for everybody to benefit from. One such a website is the medicinenet.com. Its advice on depression is effective and accurate.

Healthfinder
The guide to healthy living can be gotten from this website. This involves the ideal diet together with the various healthy tools that are a prerequisite to healthy living. Also included in this site are health services, news and information.

Vesalius
This is one of the several internet resources for all surgical anatomy and procedures. It is the reference site for all surgery specialists. It is also designed for online study and reference. All of its narratives and comments emanates from researched work of medical professionals.

AnneLawrence
The first of its kind, AnneLawrence deals with transsexual’s issues, with information from some of the greatest authorities in that field. It can be considered as a female site because of its notable inclination to women health issues like breast augmentation, facial feminization surgery, voice feminization to name but a few. It is actually a must visit for all, but most remarkably women.

Healthadel
It’s a forum for discussing health issue through posting free health articles and information for all to see and probably to participate (comment). The good thing with the information contained in this site is the fact that it is researched, proved and tested. It has to stand the test of scrutiny by this forum before it can be published.

AmericanHospital.com
America is known for its top-of-the-range medical facilities which are also the first to apply the latest medical technology. Therefore any patient requiring specialized treatment longs for services from some of those facilities. This site enables international patients searching for American specialists and facilities to get exactly that.

Doctordigest
This site acts as a professional guide to both lay people and professionals in the medical field. It contains articles penned by professionals which are available in several media including downloadable databases, browsable site etc.

Online masters of science in nursing degree has complex adoptive systems in the nursing field that enables one to develop the better skills that are required for advanced nursing practice, research and management among others. Once you meet the required standards, you need to select a specialization in the health systems leadership or begin preparing to be a nurse educator. This course is accredited by a committed staff that is ready to assist the students with instructions and all course content as well. Apart from accommodating one’s busy schedule, this course enables one to earn his or her master’s degree in the field of nursing and advance in the current carrier and it can also enable one to create a new carrier path to utilize the nursing experience.

The online masters of Science degree provides two different specialization fields thus; it offers a chance for an individual to tailor the nursing education in order to meet his or her career goals. One of the specializations is nurse educator who is able to work both in the practice and university setting. Their main duty is to make the future and the current nurses’ generations. Another area of specialization is health systems leadership who has to be ready to deal with the integration of technological innovations, health care delivery systems and restructuring of the work among others. In this field, one can work as a specialist in charge or as a generalist who takes care of entire facility.