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Best of the Web 1997
If you fancy visiting the currently coolest UK web sites, start off at the Web Awards page on http://www.yell.co.uk/
yell/yellawards/index.html. Award-winning sites range from the light hearted (Spice girls on http://web.ukonline.co.uk/kig.
hodgson/spice) and Friends on http://www.centralperk.com/), to the serious (Amnesty International on http://www.refuge.
amnesty.org). The best academic sites were the University of Central Lancashire (http://www.uclan.ac.uk), Edinburgh University (http://www.ed.ac.uk) and the University of North London (http://www.unl.ac.uk).

National Union of Students
For students in Britain, the National Union of Students (NUS) have prepared an excellent guide for new students. It contains practical advice about accommodation, student life and managing your money (http://www.nus.org.uk/ns97/
index.html). The Dearing report released last month is going to have major consequences for student finances, read the NUS's view at ( http://www.nus.org.uk/dearnews.html). If the excitement of starting university is too much and you are finding it difficult to sleep, you can read all 1700 pages of the Dearing report at ( http://www.leeds.ac.uk/educol/ncihe).

The course
King's and United Medical and Dental Schools' student unions in London have produced witty guides to medical school. Some information is campus specific but the descriptions of the course may help prepare you for what is in store. (http://www.kcl.ac.uk/kis/SU/kcsmd/top.html) and (http://www.umds.ac.uk/student-u/).

It's good to talk
Leaving home is a common source of anxiety and depression. Especially for the parents you leave behind. Be kind - stay in touch. One of the Internet's strong points is that you can do it for free. As well as e-mail, you can send a fax to almost any location worldwide without paying a penny (http://www.tpc.int/
sendfax.html). Or send them a cheesy electronic greetings card with picture and message of your choice (http://www.
gogreet.com).

Drugs
Some parts of the Internet are happily immune from the sensationalism of the tabloids. There is a free forum for discussing the medical and social "highs and lows" of the drug MDMA ( http://www.ecstasy.org). Nicholas Saunders will answer any questions on drug issues, and maintains an extensive archive of medical reports.

Booze
Beer and the pub, for better or worse, feature heavily in medical student life. They say all human life is now on the net so you won't be surprised to find virtual pubs, where you can chat and have a virtual pint without ever leaving your terminal. Try the Virtual Irish Pub ( http://www.visunet.ie/ vip/
welcome.html), or the Dragon's Inn at (http://dragon.
io.com/). Of course, most of the pubs (http://www.yahoo.co.uk/Entertainment/Drinks_and_Drinking/
Alcoholic_Drinks/Bars_Pubs_and_Clubs/Virtual_Pubs/) I visited were closed - just like in real life!

If you want to know what too much drinking can do to you, check out Think about Drink on ( http://www.wrecked.co.uk/), Alcohol Concern on (http://www.alcoholconcern.org.uk
/achome.htm) or the Institute of Alcohol Studies on (http://www.ias.org.uk/).

Junk Science
Do you still believe that all that is published in the journals or textbooks must be true? If so, take a look at the Junk Science web site on http://www.junkscience.com/. But don't believe everything you read!