If you are looking for to connect with other hospital administrators, you can do so online. Here are 25 great health and medical social media sites that can help you find others, like you, who have a passion for helping others see improved health outcomes:

Social Media for Doctors

If you are a doctor, or studying to be one, you can connect with other doctors. These social media sites offer great opportunities to confer, find support and provide your own expertise.

1. Sermo: This is a social media site for physicians. It’s a great way to connect to colleagues, asking and answering questions. It’s like being able to hold a consult. Harness the power of the many to do your job better.
2. Ozmosis: Another site only for doctors, this one helps you connect to others in the industry. You can get answers and opinions from your peers, and share insights of your own.
3. DoctorsHangout.com: Great place to go if you want to meet doctors from around the world. Also open to medical students and residents. A great way to meet a mentor and get input from colleagues.
4. MomMD: This is a great social networking site aimed mainly at women. Doctors and medical students can connect, chat and learn more about the field.
5. DoctorsLounge: Hang out with other doctors online. An awesome resource, and an interesting place to hang out. Research symptoms, get additionally opinions and connect with doctors who share your specialty.
6. DocGreet: You can connect with trusted colleagues for information on different cases, or offer your own expertise. Also allows doctors to interact with their patients through the private “patient view” options.
7. Doctor Network: Watch videos, lectures and more. Connect with doctors from around the world, and share your own knowledge.
8. StudentDoctor.net: This is meant for medical students. A great social media site if you are looking for direction, support and friends as you go through med school.

Social Media for Nurses

For nurses, it can help to connect with others who understand what is happening in the field. Ask and answer questions, learn more about your profession, and meet new friends via social media.

9. AllNurses.com: If you are a nurse, you can connect with others socially using this site. Get answers to questions, and find out about news, specialties and careers.
10. Nurse.com: You can contact other nurses, and find networking opportunities. Plenty of nurses to speak with online.
11. Nursing Link: This is a social site from Monster. However, it’s not just a job site. It really is a social media destination, where you can connect with others, and learn more about your options, as well as find support.
12. Nurse Connect: Join this social community of nurses. You can find some in your own town, read reviews, and connect with others.
13. Ultimate Nurse: Find out more about nursing, connect, and join the discussion. A great place to meet other nurses.
14. NurseZone: Plenty of great advice from others — and the chance to offer your own. Participate in discussions, and share your passion for nursing.
15. NurseTogether: Enjoy the empowering feeling of connecting with nurses from around the world. You can meet other nurses, advance your career, and share stories. Plenty of interesting conversations, as well as helpful resources.
16. AllStudentNurses: This is a Yahoo! Group and offers you the chance to connect with other student nurses, as well as professionals.

Social Media for All Health and Medical Careers

If you are involved in other health care careers, including life sciences, biology and psychology, you can connect with others. Great resources and interesting people. Also includes more general sites for all health and medical fields.

17. MedicalMingle: No matter your health care profession, you can find people to mingle with on MedicalMingle. Meet doctors, nurses, assistants and more.
18. medXcentral Community: This is a social network connected to health care. Meet others who work in health care. Ask questions, share your knowledge, find support and even get career help. Plenty of interesting people to meet.
19. Dose of Digital: This is a great social media site, in wiki form, related to pharma and other health care subjects. Join in.
20. BioCrowd: Perfect for life science professionals and health care workers. Learn more about the field, and connect with others.
21. Clinically Psyched: Great site for those involved in psychology. Connect with others in psychology groups, and explore interesting ideas.
22. Healtheva: This is a site meant for researchers, as well as for doctors. It’s meant as a collaboration social media site. A great way to connect — and further your work with interesting partners.
23. HealthBoards: You can use this social media site to connect with people from all different medical and health fields. Great opportunities to learn more, share your knowledge and meet new friends from a variety of locations.

General Social Media Sites

You don’t have to be on health and medical social media sites to meet interesting people in your career field. General social media sites can allow you to interact with professionals in health fields, and even form groups within the larger social media site.

24. Facebook: You can join groups on Facebook related to health and medicine. While this is not exactly a health social media web site, Facebook is useful. Many of the social networking sites listed here have Facebook pages, and you can meet other professionals through Facebook. It is definitely worth it to be on Facebook as a health care professional.
25. LinkedIn: This is another social media web site that can be beneficial for health care professionals. You can get your professional profile out there. Make connections with those you know — and get to know their connections. If you are looking to network with other professionals, and even potentially find a job, LinkedIn can be a superior choice.

If you are a healthcare IT professional, or hospital administrator looking for a little more information about IT, you can take open courseware classes to help you stay up  to date. Here are 50 great open courseware classes for healthcare IT professionals.

Computer Science

If you are looking to learn about the basics of computer technology and how computers work, here are some great classes that can give you a basic understanding.

1. Artificial Intelligence: Dixie Sate College offers this artificial intelligence computer software that can help smooth systems and help healthcare professionals keep things running efficiently.
2. Breadth Topics in Computing Science: Develop general knowledge of computing in this course from Capilano University. Offers basic information on how computer systems work, and how to problem solve.
3. Applied Parallel Computing: MIT takes you through the basics of parallel computing, and how it can be used practically to enhance your computing abilities.
4. Machine Structures: Learn the basics of computer structures from the University of California at Berkeley.
5. What is Research in Computing Science?: Learn about research and how it works in computer science, from Glasgow University.
6. Mathematics for Computer Science: Learn the basic math that you need to be successful in computer science from this MIT course.
7. How Computers Work: Get an overview of how computers work in this course from ArsDigita University.
8. Theory of Computation: Find out more about the theories behind computation, and how computers work.
9. Algorithms: Learn about algorithms and how they work with computers, and how to incorporate them into your efforts.
10. Elements of Software Construction: Learn the basic principles of building software and development.

Computer Programming

Learn the basics of computer programming, including some programming languages and how to use them.

11. Introduction to Algorithms: Learn about how to use algorithms in your programming efforts.
12. Building Programming Experience: Go through this course to help you get some solid practice in computer programming techniques.
13. Computer Language Engineering: MIT offers another solid course related to computing programming. This course focuses on implementing high-level languages.
14. Computer Programming: The University of Berkeley offers a basic course on computer programs and helps you learn about how to construct them.
15. Java Preparation: This course is designed to help you prepare to learn Java programming. Can be very useful for the IT professional.
16. Object-Oriented Programming in C++: The University of Southern Queensland offers a helpful course in using C++ as part of object-oriented programming.
17. Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs: Learn more about computer programs, and how to interpret them. A great course from MIT that includes information on the structure of computer programs.
18. Programming Methodology: Connexions offers a helpful course on the methodology behind programming, with a special emphasis on C++.
19. Ajax and Web 2.0 Programming: This course from Sun Microsystems addresses Ajax programming and looks at making things adaptable to Web 2.0.
20. ASP.NET Tutorial: Interested in ASP? This tutorial can help you learn about this method of incorporating different scripting languages.

Information Systems

Get helpful information and learn the skills you need to build and design information systems. Can be of great help with hospital data systems.

21. Introduction to Communication, Control, and Signal Processing: Find out about the basics of communication during information systems and learn more about signals.
22. Computers and computer systems: The Open University provides a look at how computers work and how computer systems are constructed.
23. An introduction to data and information: Another course from The Open University, this offers a good introduction to how data works in information systems.
24. Accessibility in interaction design: Learn how to design information systems that are accessible and easier to use.
25. Designing the user interface: A look at how to design an easy to use interface that makes it easier for people to use computers and the information system.
26. Representing and manipulating data in computers: Using computers to manipulate and represent different data.
27. Systems Design and Administration: Learn the basics of designing and administering different computer systems from Dixie State College.
28. Advanced Data Analysis: Learn how to analyze the data you have in your information systems, and how to be more effective.
29. Database Management Systems: Get access to a great course on how to manage databases and your options for management systems.
30. Systems: Learn about systems, and get a handle on controlling complexity and building good system infrastructure.

Information Technology

Get the basics of information technology, and how IT can be used to solve problems in a number of different situations.

31. Data Mining: If you are interested in learning about data mining, this course from MIT can help. Data mining involves looking at information in order to make better administrative decisions.
32. The database development life cycle: Learn more about databases, and the development of information from The Open University.
33. Information Technology and the Labor Market: Get a look at how IT and the labor market are intertwined, and how IT is shaping all sorts of career fields.
34. Machine Vision: Learn how you can use the computer to take an image and turn it into a description of the environment. This MIT course is interesting and helpful.
35. Science and Technology: Get access to a number of interesting classes on science and on information technology from OER Commons.
36. Information Science and Technology: The University of Tokyo offers a course aimed at information technology and basics of information science.
37. Pattern Information Processing: The University of Tokyo offers this helpful course on learning how to pattern your information.
38. Web Applications: Great look at Web applications, offering helpful insight for those healthcare IT professionals that want to improve their hospital systems’ interactivity.
39. Micro/Nano Processing Technology: Learn about information technology on the micro and nano scales, and the basics for this type of IT.
40. Computer Graphics: A helpful course on computer graphics that can help you learn how to make information interesting.

Health Technology

If you are interested in open courseware specifically related to health technology topics, these courses can help you learn a bit more about taking care of healthcare IT.

41. Computational Biology: This interesting course from MIT helps you combine practice and theory to better analyze biological data sets.
42. Quantitative Physiology: Learn about measuring physiology and basic cellular biophysics topics.
43. Introduction to Methods for Health Services Research and Evaluation: This course from Johns Hopkins University looks at research and evaluation within health services organizations.
44. Epidemiology and Biostatistics: Learn about epidemiology and statistics related to medicine from Tufts University.
45. Medical Computing: Look specifically at computing as it relates to the medical field.
46. Noninvasive Imaging in Biology and Medicine: Learn about noninvasive imaging techniques from this MIT course.
47. Information Technology in Healthcare: Harvard University offers a look at specific applications of information technology in healthcare.
48. Medical Artificial Intelligence: An introduction to how artificial intelligence can be used in medicine and health care.
49. Introduction to Biostatistics: Learn about biostats and applications for health informatics from Johns Hopkins University.
50. Biomedical Information Technology: Learn the basics of IT as part of biomedical applications.