{"id":1664,"date":"2022-07-21T12:40:21","date_gmt":"2022-07-21T12:40:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/drshellysingh.com\/blog\/?p=1664"},"modified":"2025-12-17T11:45:13","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T11:45:13","slug":"dr-google-friend-or-foe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drshellysingh.com\/blog\/dr-google-friend-or-foe\/","title":{"rendered":"Dr Google – friend or foe ?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Over the past few years medical practice has changed a lot , and so has the online pursuit of it ! Symptoms , diagnoses , differential diagnoses , randomised control trials and studies are a click of a button away .<\/p>\n

\"google\"<\/a>Dr Google is now a reliable reference source , often a first point contact for most patients even before they see us , the clinicians . Most people have already done their research and come up with a diagnosis . Dr Google certainly contains a lot of information , a lot of truth and some fiction too ! The gulf between truth and accuracy and fiction can be huge.
\nMost people come up with fears of cancer , ectopic pregnancies , miscarriages , perforated intestines due to IUCDs<\/strong>, strokes , heart disease<\/strong> and the like even for the simplest complaints that have nothing to do with these ( of course having Dr Google as a partner in this diagnosis ) There are many however who may have made a correct diagnosis with the plethora of medical information available online .<\/p>\n

I\u2019d say one thing – please be educated and aware of whatever ails you ; Google away ! But don\u2019t let Google make your diagnosis . Don\u2019t trouble and stress yourself over humongous ominous diagnoses made with your online friend . Those sleepless nights are just not worth it . Worse still , don\u2019t sit tight over complaints you may have , having being assured by Google that all is well .<\/p>\n

It has taken us years and years of study and research , experience and pursuit of medicine to earn our degrees. Let Google<\/strong> not take that away from us ; let it be an accompanying aid but not your only doctor \u2026.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Talk to your doctor today !<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Over the past few years medical practice has changed a lot , and so has the online pursuit of it ! Symptoms , diagnoses , differential diagnoses , randomised control trials and studies are a click of a button away . Dr Google is now a reliable reference source , often a first point contact… Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1662,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1664","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nDr Google - friend or foe ? - Insights by Dr. Shelly Singh<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/drshellysingh.com\/blog\/dr-google-friend-or-foe\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dr Google - friend or foe ? - Insights by Dr. Shelly Singh\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Over the past few years medical practice has changed a lot , and so has the online pursuit of it ! Symptoms , diagnoses , differential diagnoses , randomised control trials and studies are a click of a button away . Dr Google is now a reliable reference source , often a first point contact... Continue reading →\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/drshellysingh.com\/blog\/dr-google-friend-or-foe\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Insights by Dr. Shelly Singh\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-07-21T12:40:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-12-17T11:45:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/drshellysingh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/WhatsApp-Image-2022-07-21-at-6.05.00-PM.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"744\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"350\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dr. Shelly Singh\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dr. Shelly Singh\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/drshellysingh.com\\\/blog\\\/dr-google-friend-or-foe\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/drshellysingh.com\\\/blog\\\/dr-google-friend-or-foe\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Dr. Shelly Singh\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/drshellysingh.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/65379a4d92091e645a28abf4ee8a51e9\"},\"headline\":\"Dr Google – friend or foe ?\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-07-21T12:40:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-17T11:45:13+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/drshellysingh.com\\\/blog\\\/dr-google-friend-or-foe\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":281,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/drshellysingh.com\\\/blog\\\/dr-google-friend-or-foe\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/drshellysingh.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/07\\\/WhatsApp-Image-2022-07-21-at-6.05.00-PM.jpeg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/drshellysingh.com\\\/blog\\\/dr-google-friend-or-foe\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/drshellysingh.com\\\/blog\\\/dr-google-friend-or-foe\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/drshellysingh.com\\\/blog\\\/dr-google-friend-or-foe\\\/\",\"name\":\"Dr Google - friend or foe ? - Insights by Dr. Shelly Singh\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/drshellysingh.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/drshellysingh.com\\\/blog\\\/dr-google-friend-or-foe\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/drshellysingh.com\\\/blog\\\/dr-google-friend-or-foe\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/drshellysingh.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/07\\\/WhatsApp-Image-2022-07-21-at-6.05.00-PM.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-07-21T12:40:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-17T11:45:13+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/drshellysingh.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/65379a4d92091e645a28abf4ee8a51e9\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/drshellysingh.com\\\/blog\\\/dr-google-friend-or-foe\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/drshellysingh.com\\\/blog\\\/dr-google-friend-or-foe\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/drshellysingh.com\\\/blog\\\/dr-google-friend-or-foe\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/drshellysingh.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/07\\\/WhatsApp-Image-2022-07-21-at-6.05.00-PM.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/drshellysingh.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/07\\\/WhatsApp-Image-2022-07-21-at-6.05.00-PM.jpeg\",\"width\":744,\"height\":350},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/drshellysingh.com\\\/blog\\\/dr-google-friend-or-foe\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/drshellysingh.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Dr Google – friend or foe ?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/drshellysingh.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/drshellysingh.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"Insights by Dr. Shelly Singh\",\"description\":\"MD, Obstetrician & Gynaecologist\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/drshellysingh.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/drshellysingh.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/65379a4d92091e645a28abf4ee8a51e9\",\"name\":\"Dr. Shelly Singh\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/fd6c4121c23a319a7c16e991e65aa9e09567f4cb221ea7b8b0e8cc77c4cfb033?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/fd6c4121c23a319a7c16e991e65aa9e09567f4cb221ea7b8b0e8cc77c4cfb033?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/fd6c4121c23a319a7c16e991e65aa9e09567f4cb221ea7b8b0e8cc77c4cfb033?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dr. Shelly Singh\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/drshellysingh.com\\\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/drshellysingh.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/dr-shelly-singh\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Dr Google - friend or foe ? - Insights by Dr. Shelly Singh","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/drshellysingh.com\/blog\/dr-google-friend-or-foe\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Dr Google - friend or foe ? - Insights by Dr. Shelly Singh","og_description":"Over the past few years medical practice has changed a lot , and so has the online pursuit of it ! Symptoms , diagnoses , differential diagnoses , randomised control trials and studies are a click of a button away . Dr Google is now a reliable reference source , often a first point contact... Continue reading →","og_url":"https:\/\/drshellysingh.com\/blog\/dr-google-friend-or-foe\/","og_site_name":"Insights by Dr. Shelly Singh","article_published_time":"2022-07-21T12:40:21+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-12-17T11:45:13+00:00","og_image":[{"width":744,"height":350,"url":"https:\/\/drshellysingh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/WhatsApp-Image-2022-07-21-at-6.05.00-PM.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Dr. Shelly Singh","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dr. Shelly Singh","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/drshellysingh.com\/blog\/dr-google-friend-or-foe\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/drshellysingh.com\/blog\/dr-google-friend-or-foe\/"},"author":{"name":"Dr. Shelly Singh","@id":"https:\/\/drshellysingh.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/65379a4d92091e645a28abf4ee8a51e9"},"headline":"Dr Google – friend or foe ?","datePublished":"2022-07-21T12:40:21+00:00","dateModified":"2025-12-17T11:45:13+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/drshellysingh.com\/blog\/dr-google-friend-or-foe\/"},"wordCount":281,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/drshellysingh.com\/blog\/dr-google-friend-or-foe\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/drshellysingh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/WhatsApp-Image-2022-07-21-at-6.05.00-PM.jpeg","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/drshellysingh.com\/blog\/dr-google-friend-or-foe\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/drshellysingh.com\/blog\/dr-google-friend-or-foe\/","url":"https:\/\/drshellysingh.com\/blog\/dr-google-friend-or-foe\/","name":"Dr Google - friend or foe ? - Insights by Dr. Shelly Singh","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/drshellysingh.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/drshellysingh.com\/blog\/dr-google-friend-or-foe\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/drshellysingh.com\/blog\/dr-google-friend-or-foe\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/drshellysingh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/WhatsApp-Image-2022-07-21-at-6.05.00-PM.jpeg","datePublished":"2022-07-21T12:40:21+00:00","dateModified":"2025-12-17T11:45:13+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/drshellysingh.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/65379a4d92091e645a28abf4ee8a51e9"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/drshellysingh.com\/blog\/dr-google-friend-or-foe\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/drshellysingh.com\/blog\/dr-google-friend-or-foe\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/drshellysingh.com\/blog\/dr-google-friend-or-foe\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/drshellysingh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/WhatsApp-Image-2022-07-21-at-6.05.00-PM.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/drshellysingh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/WhatsApp-Image-2022-07-21-at-6.05.00-PM.jpeg","width":744,"height":350},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/drshellysingh.com\/blog\/dr-google-friend-or-foe\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/drshellysingh.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Dr Google – friend or foe ?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/drshellysingh.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/drshellysingh.com\/blog\/","name":"Insights by Dr. Shelly Singh","description":"MD, Obstetrician & Gynaecologist","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/drshellysingh.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/drshellysingh.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/65379a4d92091e645a28abf4ee8a51e9","name":"Dr. Shelly Singh","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fd6c4121c23a319a7c16e991e65aa9e09567f4cb221ea7b8b0e8cc77c4cfb033?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fd6c4121c23a319a7c16e991e65aa9e09567f4cb221ea7b8b0e8cc77c4cfb033?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fd6c4121c23a319a7c16e991e65aa9e09567f4cb221ea7b8b0e8cc77c4cfb033?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Dr. Shelly Singh"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/drshellysingh.com\/"],"url":"https:\/\/drshellysingh.com\/blog\/author\/dr-shelly-singh\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/drshellysingh.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1664","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/drshellysingh.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/drshellysingh.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drshellysingh.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drshellysingh.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1664"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/drshellysingh.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1664\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1665,"href":"https:\/\/drshellysingh.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1664\/revisions\/1665"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drshellysingh.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1662"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/drshellysingh.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drshellysingh.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drshellysingh.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}