Patricia Theiler

Health Interests

Prevention,  health education and communications,  patient advocacy,  health news and research findings

Drugs I am Taking

Patricia Theiler has not shared any drug information.

About Me

We all know information is power. This is particularly true when it comes to our own health. As a health information specialist, I help consumers, caregivers, and health professionals find the most up-to-date and reliable information and tools.

I may be a writer and an information specialist, but I’m also a health care consumer, spouse, mother, daughter, and friend. I love researching and writing about challenging topics because I want to make my own decisions about issues concerning my life and community.

More and more, our information is coming to us from the web. I became hooked on the educational powers of the web after helping the federal government develop online self-directed tutorials on the prevention of substance abuse, violence against women, suicide, and other public health concerns. I also discovered the need for making sure online health materials, in particular, are scientifically accurate and reliable and from a trusted source.

I’m also interested in alternatives to traditional “western” health care. In Asia, where I lived with my family during the 1980s and 1990s, the local Chinese medicine shop was as common as our neighborhood drug store. Our shopping malls are still a far cry from the Hong Kong markets. Increasingly, however, consumers want health information that includes scientifically based alternative methods.

I’m also a girl from a small town in the Midwest, where I took the bounty of the local farmers’ markets for granted until I moved to the big city. After my first summer vacation back home, I remember filling the entire back seat of my car with local cantaloupes to give as gifts.

Nutrition, emerging medical practices, key research findings—it’s a lot to digest in the health world, especially because our health needs and conditions change. I look forward to exploring the many aspects of this world with the HealthCentral Network community.

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Patricia Theiler is a trained educator with a Master’s degree in English from the University of Michigan. She has developed award-winning health information materials for consumers and professionals. Patricia lives in Silver Spring, Maryland, with her husband, Martin, and teenage daughter, Anna. Their dog, Molly, is learning to tolerate Anna’s new rabbit, Peanut.