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The stereotype: The patient sits in the doctor's office cradling a ream of printouts describing her condition or imagined condition and potential approaches to treatment--all painstakingly gleaned from the Internet. The physician bustles in, accepts the pages reluctantly, and riffles through them dismissively. After all, consider the source. But that stereotype no longer holds. Increasingly, physicians are encouraging their patients to consult the Internet for medical information. Thousands of doctors, along with major health plans, health insurers, and hospitals, offer carefully vetted education materials on their own Web sites, as well as individualized links to trustworthy Internet sources for additional knowledge, as a salient adjunct to face-to-face instruction.